Artificial Intelligence Driven Crop Protection Optimization for Sustainable Agriculture

This paper introduces digital farming solutions offered by xarvio™ and how these solutions contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By leveraging recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence, farmers can apply crop protection more efficiently by targeted usage. Respective modules presented in this paper, namely Spray Timer, Zone Spray, Buffer Zones and Product Recommendation ensure crop protection products are applied at the right time and only where they are needed while also ensuring the right product at the optimal rate. This not only reduces the impact on the environment, but moreover increases the productivity and profitability of the farmer. The impact of our digital solutions is exemplified by real world case studies in two major food production regions: Europe and Brazil. In Europe the use of Artificial Intelligence driven spray timing, variable rate application maps and product recommendation have led to a 30% decrease in fungicide usage on field trial cereal crops and a 72% decrease in tank leftovers reducing environmental pollution. In Brazil the Zone Spray weed maps solution created using Computer Vision techniques resulted in a 61% average savings, cutting back on almost two thirds of herbicide and water consumption. As a result the solutions presented in this paper cater to the UN Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger and responsible consumption and production.