University scientists, engineers, producers, government agencies and industry officials across the Southeast recently met to brainstorm ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help growers. They concluded that they could empower growers and equip farms to increase their economic and environmental sustainability and develop resilient solutions to address climate change by using AI.
The three-day conference, Envisioning 2050 in the Southeast: AI-driven Innovations in Agriculture, was the brainchild of several academics in the Southeast, including Kati Migliaccio, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) professor and chair of agricultural and biological engineering.
Migliaccio noted these key points made at the conference:
- Data is a critical part of any AI conversation, including data ownership, data sharing and data quality.
- New federal funding allows for greater innovation and risk around agriculture and AI research and Extension efforts.
- Universities and industry need to work together on intellectual property in AI, and they’re already making great strides.
- More students are being encouraged to go into this field because demand for AI knowledge is great.
At least one AI tool is already standing the test of utility — Agroview, invented by UF/IFAS agricultural engineer Yiannis Ampatzidis. The cloud-based AI technology can help growers know trees’ canopy size and height and how many trees they have. Such data are vital when insurance companies decide whether to issue a policy to cover a farm.
Another AI technology developed by Ampatzidis, in collaboration with growers and the industry, AgroSense, tells tree-crop sprayers to apply pesticide only to existing trees. Some citrus groves contain gaps where trees have been destroyed. AgroSense also tells sprayers other areas not to spray, including poles, pumps and dead trees.
During a panel discussion about efforts to advance AI applications to southeastern agriculture, Damian Adams, UF/IFAS associate dean for research, said UF is moving in the right direction in AI on multiple fronts.
UF recently announced an Artificial Intelligence Academic Initiative Center, the campus focal point for academic activity at UF related to AI and data science. It will help coordinate and develop programs and certificates, identify opportunities for faculty and students to engage with AI, coordinate seminars, develop an AI scholars program and develop partnerships with UF’s Career Connections Center.
Adams also mentioned HiPerGator, gifted to UF by Chris Malachowsky and NVIDIA. HiPerGator is one of the world’s fastest supercomputers and the largest such computer on a university campus in the Southeast.
UF/IFAS has lots of research capacity in areas of critical need like plant breeding, but not yet enough in AI. That’s changing with UF slated to hire more than 100 new AI faculty this year. This is a tremendous footprint in AI research capacity, and one that firmly establishes UF/IFAS as a leader, Adams said.
Source: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
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