Artificial intelligence system to monitor crops in the field

Artificial Intelligence System to Monitor Crops in the Field

Developed by the company established with the support of TÜBİTAK Techno-Initiative Capital in Bursa, the system, which has a camera as well as sensors for wind, speed, direction, leaf wetness, precipitation, temperature, pressure and humidity, guides the owner of the field where it is installed for the proper crop cultivation - Company owner agricultural engineer (m.sc) Mert Demirel: - “Farmers need an essential expert. There is a need for expert support on when and which application to do. We are developing a decision support mechanism that will help the farmer by using today's technology, artificial intelligence and deep learning models.”

Thanks to the artificial intelligence-based system developed by a Master's degree agricultural engineer in Bursa, farmers can instantly learn the agricultural needs of the product in their fields from the station with cameras and sensors installed on their lands.

Mert Demirel, a graduate of Bursa Uludağ University (BUU) Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Protection, completed his master's degree in this field after working on his bachelor's thesis on “Artificial intelligence in plant protection”.

Demirel, who won awards and incentives from some competitions with his thesis project, put his idea into practice and established the agricultural technologies company “GÖRSENTAM” (Image Processing and Sensor Supported Smart Agricultural Control System) in BUU Ulutek Technopark Technology Development Zone.

The solar-powered stations produced by the company, which develops remote sensing and artificial intelligence-based solutions for agricultural enterprises and farmers, provide many conveniences to the owner of the field where they are installed.

The data collected by the wind, speed, direction, leaf wetness, precipitation, temperature, pressure and humidity sensors at the station, which is equipped with a camera, is instantly transmitted to farmers via a mobile application.

In line with the data, the farmer, who is informed about what the crop needs, takes action in his field with the information he receives from the station.

Having established 80 stations across Türkiye so far, company officials aim to send this system abroad as well.

- “The important point is to integrate agricultural information into the system in a successful way”

Mert Demirel, the owner of the company, software developer and master agricultural engineer, told AA correspondent that the company, which was established in 2020 with the support of TÜBİTAK Techno-Entrepreneurship Capital, employs 4 people and produces 3 types of stations and various sensors.

Demirel stated that they have found solutions to the important problems of farmers thanks to the software and station developed and said “The farmer needs an essential expert. There is a need for expert support on when and which application to do. We are developing a decision support mechanism that will help the farmer by using artificial intelligence and deep learning models, which are today's technology.”

Demirel explained that thanks to the system, irrigation and spraying are done at the correct time, and noted the following:

“The development of pests and diseases is completely related to climate data. These are cold-blooded creatures and their development is directly related to climate, and their development depends on a mathematics. We know this mathematics. We can process the data we collect from the field with this mathematics and determine the period when that pest is most susceptible to control, and we use computing technologies to do this. There are partly deep learning models on the one hand. There are machine learning algorithms. The important point here is to integrate agricultural information into the system in a successful way.”

Emphasizing that they can equip the developed stations with the necessary number and features of sensors, Demirel said that farmers can easily install the device on their own and activate it by pressing a button.

Demirel said that in addition to spraying and agricultural needs, the system provides the mobile farmer with the output of the data collected through the mobile application of the land-specific weather forecast algorithm.

Export target to the USA

Stating that they aim to increase the number of stations they set up in the fields across the country, Demirel said “As a company, our goal is to reach approximately 4 thousand stations in our country. The Turkish republics are a very big market for us. Our other global goal is to enter the USA, which is a difficult market where agricultural technologies are the abundant.”

Demirel said that they are currently serving with 80 stations in Türkiye and that the stations save work, time and fuel as they do not need to go to the field for control, adding “We wish this to spread all over Türkiye. We developed our product as young engineers. We have 100 percent domestic software. A large part of the hardware side is also domestic, and we continue to localize it.”

“This station is an early warning system”

Agricultural engineer Tayfun Dinç, in charge of the farm in Bursa's Karacabey district where the system is used, said that they have been actively using the station for a year.

Underlining that technology will always be beneficial, Dinç said “This station is actually an early warning system, like spraying at the correct time or watering at the appropriate time. Previously, we were doing it by guessing. This system also benefits us in terms of time and economy.”

Dinç added that with the spraying and irrigation they will carry out thanks to the device, they have significantly reduced the cost and increased the yield.

Source: Anadolu Agency