Each type of vegetation needs different amounts of water, based on where they naturally grow. This is known to most farmers, and especially those in charge of vineyards. It is known, throughout the wine-growing community, that to have the most intricate, and interesting flavored wine, you must treat your grape vines in a particular way.
Grapes of the smallest size produce less juice, but despite the quaint amount of juice, the flavor is what makes these miniature grapes stand out. Smaller grapes have a more concentrated flavor within it's thicker skin which is perfect for making a bold wine. To achieve this flavoring, vines must be allowed to run dry towards the end of growth before harvest.
However, this is only desirable for certain grape products and each plant will utilize the water differently. Since you cannot run an entire vineyard on these methods, a smarter approach must be taken.
A partnership between Ceres Imaging and Trinchero Family Estates, located in Napa Valley California, forged the path for a streamlined mapping system with Artificial Intelligence Tech. This tech is capable of examining plants and soil for water levels. Drones were utilized to show above ground images to see which plants were underwatered, overwatered, or what exactly is needed.
A New Kind of "Watering"
While sprinkler systems have come a long way from the single spigots of the past, they still do not have full control of the water, especially if areas are windy. Some vines in the Trinchero Vineyard were receiving different levels of water to begin with, so they started with the imaging results.
After knowing through thermal imaging which vines needed what amounts of water, a new sprinkler system was devised. Only this time using AI. The service industry, built around farming optimization, is pulling out all of the tricks to inform agriculturists of the opportune times to plant, harvest, and address every stage in between. People have been making wine for a long time, and we've learned some tips and tricks along the way, but we can only gather so much info ourselves. This is where responsible tech comes in.
These technological steps will not only aid current farms in soil-rich environments. But also, farming in areas with climates previously thought of as unsustainable can be reconsidered. Think of the ways the climate has already changed in recent decades. There are constant flooding and storms in the Midwest, and less rain in California causing fires. Irrigation systems have been used in the past, but we only know what plants need in the environments they grow best. With these new AI and thermal imaging capabilities, we can gather more info than ever before to determine exactly what is or isn't needed.
Powerful Thermal Imaging
Thermal imaging is the main resource for seeing if a plant has enough water. A lack of water creates a higher plant temperature. This is the best method for determining these differences over a large crop. These differences may be hard to spot with the naked eye and would take a long time for farmers to inspect each individual plant. This tech saves time and energy while still producing a better, more exact product.
Images are not only collected from drones. Above head there are satellites that provide valid information, as well as images taken from planes. Microscopic cameras have been installed on some sprinkler systems, and these images can give very detailed results, but a lot of them are needed to cover a full sized vineyard. Different tech is able to gather additional information as well, such as where weeding or spraying for bugs may be needed.
Originally these images held a great wealth of information, but still had to be deciphered by farmers or the tech engineers. Advancements are being made to lift this new burden, making it easier for AI to determine also which plants are sick or damaged, with less effort from the farmers.
When farmers have the option of only watering the plants that need it, farmers naturally spend less on water. Water might not be a costly household bill, but the amount of water that goes into an agricultural operation is vast. The cost definitely add up on a farm or vineyard. Average homeowners are only responsible for watering their family, vineyard owners do the same but are also responsible for the lives of thousands upon thousands of individual vines.
When farmers can determine more accurate needs of their crops, they can deliver nothing more, nothing less. This means using fewer chemicals to restore plants or deliver required nutrients they are not receiving. This is great for the owner's wallet, but also the honey bees which are needed to pollinate crops. When too much synthetic fertilizer is used in combination with too much water, the runoff will eventually reach waterways and the ocean posing a threat to wildlife there.
Smart Systems Will Change The Game
This is not the first monumental change in agriculture. Think of the growing course of irrigation, how synthetic fertilizers are becoming more effective, and the increased mechanization. The work that goes into a farm has been lowered, while the output of crops have been both plentiful and more valuable. So, technology is continuing to lower the labor involved in producing more food. With our ever-rising population, this is a huge step towards solving hunger.
Many traditional practices used by farmers, unfortunately, are not based on fact. They could only make their best guess for future crops depending on the past years experience. This is very slow going, and isn't always accurate because of individual plant and weather variances each year. However, this is not based on hard computer data, the future of a harvest can lie with the farmer simply feeling the ground. Computers and these sophisticated AI systems are able to gather data on the current crop in real time.
This goes on to remind farmers of the potential of smart robots. Images used for detecting plant thirst levels are one step, but then what? Will the AI grow to know when certain crops are harvestable? Or even be able to pick them, creating an almost fully automated farming district?
Do not leave livestock farming out of this, feeding animals appropriately is the next step in this technology. Which results in lowering of food costs, with easier and more humane ways to purchase wholesale chicken, or whichever livestock farmed.
AI Implementation
Getting the technology to stick, and for all farmers to begin implementing it is a problem. As of late, farmers are practicing more traditional approaches to sowing, caring, and harvesting. This is an industry that is very hard to change. Because farmers rely on their crop, it is difficult to convince them to make a big change without cold hard facts.
Having too much AI is a fear for workers who already do those jobs. Hoards of people who spend their summers in the Southern US picking peaches would no longer be needed, forcing them out of jobs. But it will add to the many technology jobs that will be necessary in each aspect of handling and maintaining the tech.
Creating statistics from information gathered during farming is difficult for the owner of the land, but a computer can analyze the mass amount of data a few thermal images contain.
Technology and farming are not commonly thought of together but in reality are inching ever closer to one another. The goal of this tech is to make life easier on farmers, allowing them to bring in a greater yield of a better crop. One day, with future advancements, we may be able to make hunger a thing of the past, with fully automated farms producing the best crop for everyone.
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