Monitoring crops with AI models

“Farming is a difficult line of work, and in addition to being out in the field all day, farmers have slim profit margins,” Nguyen said. “Increasing crop yield through precision agriculture is important.” 

Using AI, Nguyen is working to program smart drones to fly on their own and capture photos of the fields. Stitching these photos together creates a mosaic farmers can use to monitor their fields for infection with the incurable blueberry scorch virus or infestation with Carolina redroot weeds that crowd out cranberry vines. 

“Early detection of disease and preventive measures achieved by using AI and smart drones, like precision spraying, can improve results,” Nguyen said. “A lot of people don't realize that underneath the hood, all these AI models are generated using math.”

Even in the absence of diseases and weeds that can overtake bogs, AI models that count berries allow farmers to estimate their crop yield in advance. Accurate early estimations help farmers determine how much labor will be needed to pick the fruit and negotiate prices with distributors. Nguyen has undertaken these efforts with grant funding from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and, in collaboration with Camden County College and the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. 

“Although its use in this field has been under-investigated, AI has an important role to play in New Jersey agriculture,” Nguyen said. “What we're doing will benefit farmers, as well as open up opportunities for our students to gain field experience flying the drones and collecting data.”

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