A.I. and the future of agriculture

Invasive insects cost the global economy in excess of $100 billion dollars every year, a number that is expected to increase by 36 percent by 2050.

The red palm weevil, for instance, which is a small insect native to South Asia, causes more than $1 billion dollars in crop losses throughout the Middle East, Africa, and North America each year.

“The weevils are a dangerous problem,” said Dabash, a Jordanian date farmer. “If left unchecked, they would spread through the entire area. It’s a constant battle.”

Yet because of the way that red palm weevil’s harm the trees they infect, the damage is difficult to detect until late in the infestation, forcing many farmers to turn to harmful pesticides in order to combat the problem.

“We need to take a proactive approach to these insects because there are large crop losses,” said Hiba Obeidat, a pest control engineer at Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

And while the pesticides can help to save the infected trees, the chemicals taint the dates with toxic chemicals, forcing farmers to wait months before they can produce dates that are once again safe to eat.

“The issue with pesticides, in general, is that they can linger in the environment,” said Timothy Purvis, an environmental researcher based in Jordan. “It reaches a point where it’s leaking into other ecosystems.”

Yet a new startup named Palmear has a high-tech solution, developing a system that uses acoustic A.I. to detect the sound of the red palm weevils early in the infestation and allowing farmers to minimize the amount of harmful pesticides they need to remove the insects.

“Early detection and treatment are the most important things to us,” said Imad Al-Awad, director of Plant Protection and Phytosanitation at the agriculture ministry. “We benefit a lot from this AI to know if there’s a hot spot. We can warn people about it and protect the date industry.”

While farmers traditionally have treated date palms with pesticides 5 times per year, the AI monitoring system developed by Palmear has reduced the usage of these chemicals by over 40%, with many farms no longer requiring the use of pesticides in their operation.

“AI-powered tools can help farmers make more informed decisions about when and where to apply pesticides, reducing the risk of over-application and minimizing their impact on the environment,” said Ibrahim Kilani, an environmental engineer in Jordan.

In order to create the detection system, the Palmear team grew date palms in sound-proof rooms and artificially infected the palms. Then, using high-powered microphones to listen to the insects, the team was able to create an algorithm to detect the weevils.

Palmear has plans to scale the technology, aiming to mass manufacture the sensors in order to help more farmers deal with weevil infestations.

“We’re proud of the impact we’re having on the environment,” said Anais Al-Ghananim, an engineer that works with Palmear. “We started it here in Jordan, and we’re excited for it to spread to the whole world.”

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