By Kimbra Cutlip
What if farmers could diagnose crop diseases early with just a cellphone?
Well, now, soybean farmers can, with the help of SoyAI, a new, artificial intelligence-powered diagnostic tool from the University of Maryland's Digital and Precision Agriculture Lab. The team has released the first phase of the AI-enabled diagnostic tool for field testing. This initial version supports the identification of several key soybean health conditions, including Bacterial Blight, Cercospora Leaf Blight, Downy Mildew, Frogeye Leaf Spot, Healthy, Potassium Deficiency, Soybean Rust, and Target Spot.
With SoyAI, if a farmer sees a plant that doesn’t look quite right, they can snap a photo, upload it to the app, and immediately know what kind of disease they’re dealing with. No more sending samples to a lab and waiting for the results. The diagnosis is in the palm of their hands.
“We are excited to release this first version of SoyAI, which is browser-based, and we will be releasing it as an app for Android and iPhone soon,” said Precision Agriculture Specialist Hemendra Kumar, director of the lab and leader of the effort to develop SoyAI. “We want to encourage users to explore the platform, share it with colleagues and collaborators, and provide feedback that will help improve the app and guide future enhancements.”
A fast, in-field diagnosis provided by SoyAI will help farmers manage emerging issues with their crops early, reducing the amount of chemicals required to treat disease, which can save money and promote more sustainable, productive crop production.
Source : umd.edu