The dependence of various industries on AI for its efficient functioning continues to grow as time progresses. India’s industrial automation is estimated to grow by 10% while it has also witnessed a 20% compounded growth between 2013 and 2018.Coming to the agricultural industry, a study by Visual Capital showed that 6 out of 10 farming jobs in the US can be substituted by automation.
For example, the UK based firm known as HFH(Hands Free Hectare) has been developing methods to automate the entire farming process starting from planting and monitoring, to maintenance and then eventually reaching the point the crops are ready to be harvested. The firm has successfully harvested the winter wheat and one of barley thus proving the statement that automated vehicles and methodologies can indeed revolutionize this industry. HFH has even come up with ways to keep track of the soil health and destroy unwanted weeds.
It’s not just the farmers but the retailers are also using ML to assist them in their decision-making processes. While seed retailers are using this data and agricultural technology to churn better crops, pest control companies are using similar models to identify bugs and vermins. One such example would be the firm Rentokil who is using ML models to identify and kill bugs. Accenture has come up with an application to allow brands to id the various pests and bugs therefore allowing them to come up with an effective cure.
Automation is not just in the form of ML models but also as agricultural robots which are being used to replace human labour since they are much faster and more efficient.
Descartes Lab, a Mexico based start-up is now using sensors, cloud computing and ML paired with satellite imaging to study and understand the best conditions for crop growth.
There are many more examples of how ML is revolutionizing the traditional ways of farming and India is yet to catch up with those ways. But as we take a look at the bigger picture, a few lines of code continue to govern our ways of life.