A student-developed cellular app within the Philippines goals to scale back agricultural losses utilizing AI-powered farm danger monitoring.
AGRICONNECT PH, developed by 22-year-old Aldrin “Soj” Gamayon, is designed to assist farmers uncover early indicators of crop stress earlier than seen injury units in.
Gamayon, a fourth-year Communications Expertise Administration pupil at Ateneo de Manila College, acquired the inspiration for the app from private expertise and an abroad internship. Coming from a farming household, he witnessed first hand the difficulties that farmers, notably his uncles, confronted with managing unpredictable climate and crops’ pests.
He famous that many farmers depend on visible cues and expertise when assessing crop well being, which might imply solely restricted responses can be found to farmers, and even than, solely after seen injury or change happens. In keeping with analysis, as soon as yellowing or different indicators seem on a plant, solely round 30% of a crop’s worth could be sometimes salvaged. In distinction, AGRICONNECT’s early-detection system goals to help farmers defend as much as 90% of their yields by figuring out points sooner.
The app makes use of soil-embedded good sensors positioned at varied factors throughout a plot of land to watch key variables like soil moisture, water ranges, and pest exercise. The collected information is fed into an AI system, which analyses subject situations and sends alerts to farmers to assist them make well timed choices.
To make the output simpler to interpret, the app is designed round a easy stoplight system. A purple sign signifies pressing motion is required in 12 to 24 hours, yellow advises warning, and inexperienced displays good situations.
“We do acknowledge that farmers and agribusiness homeowners aren’t actually essentially the most technical folks,” Gamayon defined in an interview with BusinessWorld. “We’re form of utilizing a really common idea in order that they don’t actually need to know the tech; they simply have to know precisely what to do concerning the info.”
Agricultural injury within the Philippines reached a worth of practically ₱58 billion (US$1.01billion) in 2024, in accordance with authorities information. Droughts, typhoons, and plant ailments proceed to have an affect on yields throughout the nation.
Gamayon hopes that AGRICONNECT will function a sensible software in responding to crop dangers. The app is about to launch in 2026, with a broader goal of reaching a million farmers by 2030.
Whereas the app remains to be in improvement, it has gained early recognition. AGRICONNECT was a winner within the Purple Bull Basement competitors, which helps student-led innovation initiatives, and the initiative can also be receiving help from international organisations together with Microsoft, Plug and Play, and Ateneo Blue Nest.
Gamayon sees AGRICONNECT not as an alternative to conventional farming data, however as a complement to it. “We envision ourselves extra as an ally and as a companion of farmers quite than a substitute as others would declare,” he stated.
(Picture by Pixabay)
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