Sizable grant and AI to help improve sustainable crop production

Artificial intelligence could help real-world crops. That and $120,000.

A recent grant awarded by the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission (IGEM) for $120,000, will help the University of Idaho’s Center for Intelligent Industrial Robotics to improve organic and sustainable crop production with the use of AI.

The grant will “support the testing, deployment and improvement of artificially intelligent systems currently being tested across the U.S. to access microclimate and environmental information and improve sustainable organic crop production,” a release stated.

“Agriculture is the largest contributor to Idaho’s economy,” said Mary Everett, postdoctoral fellow and project lead at U of I’s Department of Computer Science. “Expanding AI systems like the one we’re developing can help farmers lower water consumption, promote biodiversity and energy efficiency and reduce cost. All these improvements contribute to stronger agribusiness in Idaho.”

Two systems in Bonner County, Idaho, and in Winchester, Virginia, help growers track conditions such as temperature, light, wind speed and air moisture to help make better care decision for crops.

The Sandpoint system sits on 66 acres and tracks an orchard, while the Winchester system is located at the Laurel Grove Wine Farm, which is 120 acres of vineyard. The Idaho system acts as a testing platform to be integrated into the sister system in Virginia.

“The AI-augmented system gives vintners actionable microclimate and environmental information such as humidity, temperature, soil moisture and acidity data to help inform growing business practices, reduce power consumption and defray operating costs,” the university stated.

Everett, along with computer science graduate student Garrett Wells, computer science undergraduates Walter Neils and Kevin Wing, and mentor John Shovic, the director of the U of I Center for Intelligent Industrial Robotics, are all part of the research team.

Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.