Agriculture: the end of the tunnel?

The agricultural sector has to face three sizable challenges: the rising cost of inputs; climate change, with disturbances that are increasingly frequent and more intense; and the pressure to switch to more sustainable farming methods. The fusion of new technologies is going to have a say in the matter…

Although many farmers already use software to help manage their farms, technology fusion takes things a step further: manufacturers such as John Deere are developing self-driven, connected agricultural machinery. This equipment is kitted out with sensors that transmit real-time data, feeding into AI that aggregates them from other sources such as satellite images of their farmland. What benefits can you expect?

Autonomous machinery that weeds by itself, without the need for any heavy human labor and with a very low risk of error. It can also harvest an orchard or vineyard, two tricky tasks where there is a worker shortage.

AI can be used to recommend the optimal quantity of seeds and inputs. Thanks to these sensors, US corn farms have cut their use of herbicides by 80%.

Only 5% of farmers worldwide use this new innovative technology, but it is bringing encouraging economic and environmental benefits.

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