AI in AGRI
According to the UN, increasing
production is only part of the
answer to the problem we face
in feeding the world’s growing
population. Almost as important is
to reduce the amount of food that
is wasted every year. The Food and
Agricultural Organization estimates
that one-third of all food produced
for human consumption—1.3
billion tons—is wasted annually.
Here, I believe AI can play a huge
role. One way it will have an impact
is by ensuring that highly-perishable
foods such as milk make it from the
farm to the processing plant quickly
and safely.
This is an important focus of a
pioneering AI-based operations
management system that is
improving efficiency, ensuring
safety, and lowering costs for a
brand-new milk processing and
manufacturing facility operated by
ACM in Girgarre, a small town in
Australia. Designed to handle 200
million liters of milk, the facility
uses a state-of-the art information
system built on Microsoft Dynamics
365 and Azure Cognitive Services
to automate the process of pumping
milk from tanker trucks to silos –
monitoring quality, and creating
a rich data trail so the milk can be
tracked from the farm to the store.
ACM has also implemented
a sophisticated temperature
monitoring system that uses
sensors and Microsoft technologies
including Azure and SQL to detect
temperature fluctuations in storage
tanks and trucks, sending alerts
to farmers and drivers. If the
system senses an electrical failure
on a farm, for example, it can
automatically dispatch trucks to
collect the milk before it spoils.
The potential economic
implications of these technologies
extend far beyond the farms
currently being served. Australia
ranks fourth in the world in global
market share for dairy exports,
behind New Zealand, the EU,
and the United States. Overall,
Australia’s (AUD) $4.3 billion dairy
industry – the country’s third largest
rural industry – employs more than
42,000 people. The opportunities to
increase production and improve
efficiency could bring more jobs
and greater prosperity to rural
communities in the dairy farming
regions of southeastern and
southwestern Australia where the
climate is particularly suitable for
raising cattle.
Initiatives like this one in
Australia and the pilot projects in
Andhra Pradesh and Washington
State offer an early indication of
how we can empower farmers on
farms of every size and in every
part of the world to increase yield
in ways that are better for the
environment. Taken together, I
believe they offer a reason to be
optimistic that we will be able to
feed the world.
12 February 2020 | www.smartgovernance.in