The Digital Agriculture, Food and Wine group (DAFW) deals with the implementation and integration of digital data, sensors, technology, and tools with artificial intelligence (AI) for agricultural applications from the farm or vineyard to consumers, and the development of plants and foods for Space.
Due to complexities involving agriculture, food, and wine sciences, many people consider these practices part science, part art. However, we attribute these complexities to intricate interactions that need to be taken into consideration and understood. These are related to complex processes happening in the soil, the root system, the plant, and canopies interacting with the atmosphere throughout the season.
The recent implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones and remote sensing opened up a variety of technologies that were developed for image analysis through computer vision, more robust modeling techniques through machine learning and artificial intelligence that can be applied to agriculture and food process.
Our group has made many advances in researching these potential techniques for practical applications in the industry and many more industries related to animal production and food science.
What is the difference between Precision Agriculture (PA) and Digital Agriculture (DA)?
Precision agriculture has been around for more than 30 years and relates to the technology implemented in agricultural applications such as satellites, GPS guided agricultural machinery, among others. The DAFW group creates intelligent and smart tools to interpret data and do practical and tangible applications using machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The DAFW group has been developing DA practical tools that can be readily applied to the industry.