University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

AI's application in terms of agriculture. Due to the varying factors that affect soil quality, and the dessertification of several parts of the world's previously fertile land, AI is helping to improve soil management:
Soil is the foundation of agriculture, without clean and healthy earth all we are left with is dirt. Much of the soil found on earth is unusable or inaccessible since it’s found underneath bodies of water (the ocean, rivers, lakes), therefore the formation of quality soil is critical for agriculture. There are multiple factors that can influence the quality of soil, namely parent material, climate, location, the chemicals and substances found in water, human and animal interaction, etc. It feels like you almost need fate, or luck on your side for all of these elements to align, but then there is also the time factor. It takes 500 years for an INCH of topsoil to form.

Increased human activity has led to urban development pollution, landfills and climate change, causing the amount of farmable land to decrease despite population being at an all time high. Companies like Trace Genomics have developed technology that can improve soil management. The process is fairly simple: you collect a sample of your soil and send it in for genome sequencing, computational analysis, and data science to analyse and measure your soil health. Afterwards, Trace Genomics provides you with custom recommendations for how you can improve your soil health and crop yield.

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