The global artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture market is expected to reach approximately US$2,075mn by 2024, at a CAGR of above 21 per cent between 2018 and 2024, with the Asia-Pacific region demonstrating a lucrative growth, according to Zion Market Research
The agriculture sector is experiencing rapid adoption of advanced technologies in order to improve the overall yield of the crops. AI is an important technology in modern digital agriculture that is being implemented and deployed for more sustainable use of available resources.
Various government and private research organisations globally are consistently working to enhance the productivity and efficiency of agricultural land by means of automation, pesticides, and several other measures.
Increasing investments in AI and robotics are primarily driving the growth of the global AI in the agriculture market. This can be supported by the fact that agriculture tech startups have raised more than US$800mn in the past five years, owing to rising interest in AI and robotics in the field.
High adoption of AI in agriculture by Asian countries
The Asia-Pacific AI in the agriculture market is predicted to demonstrate a lucrative growth over the coming years. The growth can be attributed to the high adoption of AI in the agriculture sector by major countries such as China, South Korea, India, Australia and Japan.
The global e-commerce giant Alibaba got into farming activity in China by deploying artificial intelligence in farming to assist farmers to increase crop yield, while reducing costs. By using Alibaba’s digitally recorded information on their smartphones, the farmers are able to monitor whether grapes are ready to be plucked or bugs are munching on their apple fields.
In order to increase the productivity and yield of agriculture products in Japan, The Kyushu University and Fujitsu Limited agreed to conduct joint research programme for a period of next two years commencing from April 2018.
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) collaborated with Microsoft to develop an AI-based sowing App in Andhra Pradesh, India. The app sends sowing advisories to farmers mentioning the date following. According to the participating farmers, by using AI-based sowing advisories, the yield was increased up to 30 per cent without incurring any capital expenses or installing any sensor on the field.
Additionally, to promote technological advancements in agriculture, India has unveiled the country’s first drone policy which is expected to drive the growth of AI in agriculture in the country. NITI Aayog partnered with IBM to use AI for developing crop yield prediction model. The main objective of the partnership is to work jointly towards the use of AI technology for providing insights to farmers for enhancing crop output, soil yield and control agriculture inputs along with increasing farmer income.
