Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the game in the Central Valley’s agricultural sector.
The development of AI is spreading in the United States and has already made an impact in education, medicine and agriculture. In the Central Valley, the advancement of AI is impacting agriculture with new technologies.
The Central Valley is home to one of the world’s most prominent agricultural regions. It grows about one-fourth of the United States’ food and supplies 8% of the U.S. agricultural output, using less than 1% of U.S. farmland.
“AI has the potential to help the agricultural sector achieve the same production with less resource inputs, especially water and with less pesticide application,” said Jiachoen Liang, an associate professor at Fresno State who teaches agricultural business and applications of AI.
The new advancement of AI technologies in agriculture has made it more accurate and efficient to monitor crops and soil, weed and harvest, apply the right amount of pesticides and detect leaks in irrigation systems.
In the Central Valley, AI is moving its way to become more influential, said Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.
“There might be some basic modeling that it’s used for like weather forecasts,” Jacobsen said. “There is a ton going on the AgTech side with automation, robotics, mechanization and more. AI will eventually be incorporated into most of this.”
Adam Fine, director of business intelligence at Bluewhite, said that AI needs more advancements, but will eventually become substantial in the Central Valley’s agricultural industry.
“Currently what we’re seeing deployed is considered narrow AI, essentially a closed-loop system of sensors leading to actions,” Fine said. “I believe the outcomes from AI adoption in agriculture will be substantial, but it is an industry that moves slower than others in terms of adoption. ”
In its early development stages, AI is monitoring crop yields and irrigation through precision.
John Abatzoglou, a researcher and professor at UC Merced, said that AI is helping farmers not only accurately monitor yields, but maximize economic growth as well.
“Various technologies including irrigation efficiencies and so-called precision agriculture have helped maximize crop per drop and increase economic productivity,” Abatzoglou said. “Various methods have been used to collect data in fields and are being used to improve agricultural outputs including AI.”
With AI advancements, future practices in agriculture will become more of a collaborative effort between farmers and technologies. There are already multiple advanced agricultural technologies such as drones and crop sensors, but AI is working to make practices more efficient.
Liang believes that AI will ultimately help reduce labor costs, and help ease the workloads of farmers without losing crop yields and other outputs.
“With advanced AI technologies, in the future, the ag sector will be less dependent on labor and natural resources,” Liang said. “We can achieve the same output with less labor and other resources needed. This will improve food security for the whole society and also increase farmers’ income.”
56% of Americans believe that AI does equal amounts of harm and good, and 31% believe that AI does more harm than good, according to Gallup News.
A way to convince people that AI in agriculture will be more beneficial than harmful is to have them directly participate in those practices, according to Fine.
“I think the number one thing that convinces people of the benefits of any technology is having them participate directly in its use,” Fine said. “I can try to convince them of anything, but until they see the direct results first hand, they will always have objections. Education is key through direct participation.”
Common farming practices such as the application of fertilizers and insecticides, erosion and gasoline-powered machinery contribute to the pollution of water and the atmosphere. With the innovative AI technologies, agriculture can become more sustainable and help minimize harmful effects on the environment, Abatzoglou said.
“With finite land and increasing caloric needs, we will need these technologies to feed the world while minimizing environmental harms from agriculture,” Abatzoglou said. “These changes will require new workforces in agriculture technology.”
