The National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program awarded a five year, $20 million grant to explore foundational AI goals and innovative uses of AI to develop a prototype autonomous “farm of the future,” anticipating a world in which low-cost AI-driven systems enable breeders and farmers to achieve large improvements in yields and profitability with minimal or even positive environmental impacts.
The project, AI Institute for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management and Sustainability (AIFARMS) is sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) AND THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF). The Institute will be centered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and its 40-member team will work to advance fundamental AI research in computer vision, machine learning, soft object manipulation and intuitive human-robot interaction to solve major agricultural challenges including labor shortages, to enhance efficiency and welfare in animal agriculture, to improve environmental resilience of crops, and to address the need to safeguard soil health.
Todd Mockler, PhD, member and Geraldine and Robert Virgil Distinguished Investigator at the Danforth Center will co-lead a research team applying AI approaches to extract plant phenotypes, from sensor data sets in order to accelerate crop improvement, with a focus on enhancing nitrogen and water use efficiency in major row crops such as corn and soy.
“Crop and livestock production are extremely complex systems that feed billions of people despite tight cost constraints and chronic risks from weather and other external challenges. I’m excited to be part of a fantastic team of colleagues in diverse disciplines ranging from artificial intelligence to robotics to plant biology. said Mockler. “The AIFARMS institute is poised to address fundamental challenges facing world agriculture while improving the resilience of crops and the sustainability of crop and livestock production systems.”
About the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program
The NAIRI is a joint effort between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture was created in response to the White House’s 2019 update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, which aims to provide support for AI research that focuses on impacting and improving society.
KEY RESEARCH THRUSTS
For additional information, contact: Karla Roeber, (314) 406-4287, kroeber@danforthcenter.org
