Proceedings Paper

Agriculture Revolutionized by Artificial Intelligence: Harvest-

ing the Future
Muhammad Bilal 1, *, Farva Rubab 2, Mubashir Hussain 3 and Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah 4,*

1. Department of Agriculture, Forest and Range Management, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 66000,
Pakistan
2. Institute of Botany, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 66000, Pakistan
3. Institute of pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 66000, Pakistan
4. Department of Civil Engineering, NFC-Institute of Engineering & Technology, Multan 66000, Pakistan
* Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract: According to the United Nations FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), the world
population would expand by another 2 billion in 2050, but extra land area under cultivation will
account for only 4% of total land area at that time. In such cases, more efficient farming practises
can be achieved by utilising recent technical developments and solutions to current farming bottle-
necks. Crop metrics could be constructed over hundreds of acres of cultivable land using remote
sensing (RS) techniques and 3D laser scanning. AI-based crops produced a 30% increase in average
crop output per ha and provided a rapid GTM (go-to-market plan) approach for crops. This article
raise an image of boosting agriculture and analyses the AI-powered concepts in the future and the
obstacles that are expected.

Keywords: Crop farming; Food production; Artificial intelligence; Agriculture production

1. Introduction
Citation: Muhammad, B.; Farva, R.;
Mubashir, H,; Syyed Adnan Raheel, By 2050, the world's population is projected to reach close to 10 billion, which would
S. Agriculture Revolutionized by Ar- result in an increase in agricultural production of up to 50% compared to 2013 despite
tificial Intelligence: Harvest-ing the little financial development [1]. Currently, 37.7% of the earth's surface is dedicated to
Future growing crops. Agriculture has a significant role in the nation's economy and in creating
jobs. It makes a substantial contribution to the economic success of industrialized coun-
tries and actively influences the economies of developing nations as well. The per-capita
Academic Editor: Francesco Mari-
income of the rural population has significantly increased as a result of the expansion of
nello
agriculture. Therefore, putting more of an emphasis on the agriculture sector will be sen-
Published: date sible and appropriate [2].
Since agriculture is the backbone of the global economy, it is everyone's duty to feed
the world's growing population by doubling current productivity by 2050 [3]. The pro-
duction of food must expand to feed a growing population, and there is a potential big
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. market for bioenergy. Additionally, agriculture must adapt to climate change and adopt
Submitted for possible open access
more efficient and sustainable production techniques [4]. More food is needed to feed the
publication under the terms and
expanding population. Growing more food on less land is one of the issues farmers deal
conditions of the Creative Commons
with. To address the growing population, farmers and inventors must work together to
Attribution (CC BY) license
(https://creativecommons.org/license
develop solutions to help farmers fulfill rising production demands [5]. Weeds, and pro-
s/by/4.0/). tect their crops from them. If artificial intelligence (AI) is used in agriculture, farmers can
increase the yield from their land while conserving resources. Innovative technologies
have seen steady change in the last few decades. A recent idea called "smart agriculture"
aims to monitor and enhance agricultural operations by using technology like robotics,
the Internet of Things (IoT), drones, and artificial intelligence (AI) [6].

Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx www.mdpi.com/journal/blsf

Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x 2 of 4

Precision agriculture (PA) is a concept of management that attempts to optimize eco-

nomic agricultural production while minimizing environmental impact in a certain re-
gion. It takes into consideration the unpredictability of the soil environment. The 4R idea,
often known as application of the correct material in the proper amount at the proper site
and time, is the foundation of PA [7]. Technology development over the past couple dec-
ades has improved PA's standing as a novel management concept. Digital sensors for
measuring real-world parameters are still for sale on the market at fair prices [8]. In the
early 1900s, it was always hoped that robots will replace human labor in all conceivable
domains by performing jobs with better accuracy. Artificial intelligence, or AI as it is
known scientifically, has advanced over the past several years, surpassing human perfor-
mance in areas like object identification and computer vision [9].
In addition to the quality of raw data, when using a large dataset to train AI models,
research has shown that performance is outstanding even when noisy data is involved,
suggesting that the volume of training data is essential in developing robust AI models
for agriculture applications [1010]. IoT and big data have actually attracted significant in-
terest from a broad range of internet users in the previous five to six years, whereas AI has
maintained its popularity for well over a decade, according to statistics from Google
Trends search histories for these topics. In fact, as communication devices proliferate,
more data is being produced, and AI is becoming increasingly well-integrated into the
lives of a sizable portion of the global population. IoT, which largely focuses on industrial
technologies, continues to be less popular with the general public than AI. Making the
most of these new information technologies to feed the world sustainably is a natural area
of interest for engineers and agriculturists [11]. The use of AI-based technologies helps to
increase productivity across all industries, including the agricultural sector, by addressing
issues with crop yield, irrigation, soil content sensing, crop monitoring, weeding, and crop
establishment [12]. In order to supply high-value AI applications in the aforementioned
industry, agricultural robots are constructed. The agriculture industry is in trouble as a
result of the rising global population, but AI has the ability to provide a critical remedy.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-based technical advancements have allowed farmers to gener-
ate more output with less input and product quality increase, as well as ensuring a quicker
go-to-market for the crops that were produce [2].
Agriculture is one industry where AI is still a developing technology. A new level
has been reached in today's agriculture sector thanks to equipment and machinery pow-
ered by AI. Real-time monitoring, harvesting, processing, and marketing of crops have all
improved because to this technology [13]. New automated methods using farm robots and
drones have considerably improved the agro-based industry. Several high-tech computer-
based systems are created to determine important elements including weed identification,
yield detection, crop quality, and many more methods [14].

2. Materials and method

An ecosystem for smart, efficient, and sustainable farming is emerging with the de-
velopment of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud machine
learning (ML), satellite imagery, and sophisticated analytics. The average crop yield per
hectare increased by 30% as a result of this pilot project's use of an AI-based sowing ap-
plication that makes recommendations to farmers regarding sowing date, preparation of
cultivable land, fertigation based on soil analysis, FYM requirement and application, seed
treatment and selection, and optimization of sowing depth. Using real-time Moisture Ad-
equacy Data (MAI) from daily rainfall statistics, soil moisture, and statistical climate data,
AI models may be used to build forecast charts and provide farmers advice on when to
plant in different seasons. Drones with AI-capable sensors could photograph the entire
farm and analyze the images nearly instantly to identify problems and offer solutions.
Farmers will be able to deal with the issue of a shrinking labor force and operate more
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x 3 of 4

productively while spending less on wages if they use robots, for example. Advanced ro-
botic gadgets will also tend to and harvest plants as well as gather data on farms in order
to boost food yields. AI bots (Agri-robots) can work in the agricultural industry similarly
to modern combine harvesters, which can harvest crops at a higher volume and faster
pace than human laborers. Computer vision is used to its utmost extent in in-vivo agri-
culture to help with monitoring, weeding, and spraying. One result of robotics use in In-
dian agriculture is lower costs: Agri-bots, which are used to tend to crops, harvest, weed,
etc. in many regions of the world, can reduce the cost of fertilizer, eliminate human labor,
and appeal to youth: Robotic agriculture has the potential to draw and retain young peo-
ple in our country. As a result, farmers will surely benefit from the development of artifi-
cial intelligence as they search for better ways to protect their crops from weeds [15].
This flowchart describes the 6 strategies which can improve the crop productivity by
using the smart ways such as Forecasts for Agricultural yield and Pricing, Intelligent
spraying, Agriculture Robots, Predictive knowledge, monitor the Crop and Soil, Disease
Diagnosis. These all-strategies work on the base of Artificial Intelligence.

Figure 1. Methodology framework of Artificial intelligence in Agriculture.

3. Results and analysis

AI applications are important in agriculture to resolve agricultural problems and as-
sure more harvest. Farmers depends on climate and environmental condition for the cul-
tivation of crops. AI and machine learning function as predictive analysts by assessing
previously collected data and identifying the optimal time to plant seed, defining the crop
alternatives, and choosing hybrid seed to improve production. To increase yields, crop-
ping patterns may also need to be adjusted, according to machine learning (ML) models.
IoT and artificial intelligence have a far less influence on raising agricultural output since
the cost of data gathering in data-driven agriculture is still relatively expensive. Artificial
Intelligence based strategies has increased production up to 30%. The newest automated
systems, which include drones and agricultural robots, have greatly benefited the agro-
based industry. To identify essential characteristics like weed identification, yield detec-
tion, crop quality, and many other procedures, different high-tech computer-based sys-
tems are used. The usage of autonomous tractors for completing numerous jobs, which
not only saves time but also money in terms of manpower, will transform the agriculture
industry thanks to AI-enabled robots. Big data, AI, and ML technologies can forecast pric-
ing, estimate crop yield, and detect pest and catastrophe infestations, guiding farmers and
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x 4 of 4

the government on future price trends, demand levels, and the best crops to plant for op-
timum advantages [16].

Table 1. AI Applications for Monitoring Crop Health.

Utilization Algorithm Findings

Machine learning, threshold segmentation,
monitoring plant growth indicators obtained a really nice outcome
CIE
Accurate barrier and grape bunch identifi-
monitoring grape growth Computer vision
cation was made
nitrogen concentration in rice through di-
MATLAB Process of changing blades quantified
agnosis
Compared to other methods, the method's
Observation of the wheat's heading date Computer vision
absolute inaccuracy is 10.14 percent days.
Observation of paddy growth Remote sensing Achieved a good result

One of the most crucial areas in agriculture where drone-based solutions are offered
in conjunction with computer vision and AI is crop monitoring and crop health assess-
ment. Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras collect precise field photos that can
be run through a convolution neural network to identify weed-filled areas, crops that need
more water, and the stress levels of plants at different growth stages. To define the spatial
information system used for acres of farm land, the drone cameras' multi-spectral photos
combine hyper-spectral images with 3D scanning methods. This gives advice a time com-
ponent over the plant's whole existence. High precision positioning systems, geological
mapping, remote sensing, integrated electronic communication, variable rate technology,
optimal planting and harvesting time estimators, water resource management, plant and
soil nutrient management, and rodent and pest attacks are among the notable key tech-
nologies that enable precision farming.

Table 2. global investments in agriculture technology, $m, 2015-2022.

Sectors 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Artificial intelli-
7 152 239 412 379 953 328 217
gence
digital media 0 0 0 61 52 26 58 30
Internet of things 0 0 7 87 55 45 105 91
Robotics 0 2 16 107 125 84 172 2
E-commerce 0 0 11 14 82 95 398 68
Advanced mate-
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12
rials
Big data 7 2 61 222 396 189 478 4
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x 5 of 4

Figure 2. global investments in agriculture technology.

To increase yields and achieve the aim of a sustainable food supply by 2050, agricul-
ture technology entrepreneurs are deciding on task-specific AI and vision solutions. Ag-
riculture technology businesses like Ceres Imaging, Sky squirrel technology, and Blue
River Technologies use computer vision technology to acquire images and analyze them
spectrally utilizing robotics and drones. Startups like Centaur Analytics, Spenser Technol-
ogies, and Sen Crop are using diverse sensor data to detect anomalies in crop yields and
inconsistencies in resource delivery. Sensor data can be a significant advantage in the anal-
ysis of farm aspects. AI-based technical advancements have allowed farmers to increase
output while using less input, improve output quality, and ensure a quicker go-to-market
for the produced crops. The various levels of stress in plants identified by AI machine
learning models that have been trained on a variety of plant photos. To make better and
better decisions, this entire approach can be divided into four consecutive stages: recog-
nition, categorization, quantification, and forecasting. Farmers are now able to increase
their average yield per hectare and have more control over the price of food grains, ensur-
ing that they continue to make a profit.

4. Discussion
Although AI offers tremendous potential for agriculture applications, there is cur-
rently a lack of understanding of cutting-edge high-tech machine learning solutions in
farms all over the world. Agriculture is highly exposed to external elements such as
weather, soil, and insect attack vulnerability. A plan for crop production made at the be-
ginning of the season may not appear to be good after harvesting begins because it is af-
fected by outside factors. Scientists working in agriculture can gather information on the
soil's quality, the weather, the level of the groundwater, and other factors that will help to
advance crop production. Robotic harvesting equipment can also be equipped with AI-
enabled sensors to collect data. Scientists working in agriculture can gather information
on the soil's quality, the weather, the level of the groundwater, and other factors that will
help to advance crop production. Robotic harvesting equipment can also be equipped
with AI-enabled sensors to collect data. Technology development over the past couple
decades has improved PA's standing as a novel management concept. Digital sensors that
can monitor real-world parameters are still available on the market for fair costs [17]. AI
systems also need a lot of data to train their algorithms and make accurate forecasts and
predictions. The collection of geographical data is simple in cases when there is a very vast
amount of agricultural land, but the collection of temporal data is more difficult.
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2023, 3, x 6 of 4

5. Conclusion
The farming industry is still not receiving enough support and is still underserved,
despite the fact that extensive research is still ongoing and numerous apps are already
available. This would make it easier to make decisions in real time and use the right model
or program in the proper order to effectively acquire contextual data. The field of artificial
intelligence is rapidly developing. It is undeniable that it is already changing our society
in social, economic, and political ways; consequently, whether or not the public and com-
mercial sectors adopt the technology relies on governmental policy.

Author Contribution s: Conceptualization, M.B.; Data curation: F.R.; Formal analysis: M.B.;
Methodology, F.R.; Validation; M.H. and S.A.R.S.; Writing—Original draft: M.B.; Writing—Review
and editing, F.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement : The data are available on suitable demand.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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