Date: Aug 08, 2018 Author: Josh Lessing Source: (
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Over the last century there's been substantial innovation in the agricultural industry, from new crop varieties and fertilizers to controlled watering systems, that together have helped increase the world's food supply. While these are significant advancements, we're now confronted with new challenges that will prevent our food supply from growing at the rate we need. By the year 2050 global food production will have to increase by 70% to feed a population of 9 billion people.[1] Yet the key resources that farmers have traditionally relied on are either in short supply or have been degraded. Agriculture now consumes 70% of our freshwater and over the last 40 years nearly 33% of our arable land has been lost to erosion or pollution.[2] Climate change is expected to only add to these problems. In the developed world we also have to contend with chronic labor shortages making it difficult for growers to care for the crops they can grow.[3] In short, the old way of doing things is no longer an option.
One solution is a global network of highly productive indoor farms that can grow fresh produce year-round in facilities immune by design from extreme weather and pollution. In North America and Europe alone there are already over 350,000 acres of protected growing area -- that's bigger than the city of Los Angeles.[4] When optimized, these growing environments are marvels of efficiency and sustainability. They can produce over 20x more produce per square foot than a conventional outdoor farm while using up to 90% less water and little to no pesticides or herbicides.[5]
How AI can help pioneering growers drive productivity
At Root AI, we're working with a group of visionary growers to create smart agricultural robots that will help sustainably expand the world's food supply. At their core is an AI-based computer vision and machine learning system purpose-built for harvesting, crop care, and yield optimization. Our first-generation robot is being trained to harvest tomatoes. It can currently locate a tomato, determine its ripeness, and pick it from the vine, and utilizes a flexible design that in time will help growers care for a variety of crops.
What makes our solution different is the new layer of data that we collect. Today, indoor growers rely on a sparse network of simple sensors to measure environmental conditions which determine plant health (e.g. water, acidity, conductivity, illumination, CO2, etc.) and use this data to make tweaks to the growing environment. Rather than measuring the environment, Root's robots can visually inspect every plant and handle every fruit to directly assess crop health and development. Combining traditional methods with Root's direct measurements will make it possible to achieve yields and quality beyond what's possible today. Our robots will work collaboratively with growers, allowing them to apply their intuition and experience to every aspect of production. By digitizing the life of each fruit, we'll be able to help growers with everything from how much to prune, what nutrient mix to apply, when to harvest, and even predict future crop yields.
The future of farming is local
From the subtly bitter-sweet cucumber to the explosively citrusy-sweet strawberry, we are committed to helping indoor farms push the limits of perfection in every plant they grow. For consumers this means that locally grown produce will become the norm, bringing with it fresher and better tasting food. The varieties farms grow will no longer need to be designed to survive the rigors of the outdoor world and long-distance shipments to the grocery store. Instead, farms will be able to choose varieties optimized for nutrition and flavor since it will only take a day to go from farm to table, making the world's best food available at reasonable prices to everyone in every store.
To help achieve this bold vision, we've built an incredible team of robotics engineers, growers who represent the largest indoor farms on the continent, and investors led by First Round and including Accomplice, Schematic Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, and Half Court Ventures, who've helped us raise $2.3M in capital. Keep an eye out as our product will become more broadly available next year. In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about Root AI, visit us at root-ai.com or follow us on Twitter at @RootRobots.
Sources
[1] "High Level Expert Forum -- How to Feed the World in 2050", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (2009)
[2] "The United Nations World Water Development Report 2016", World Water Assessment Programme, (2016); "Soil loss: an unfolding global disaster", University of Sheffield's Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, (2015)
[3] "Searching for Solutions: California Farmers Continue to Struggle with Employee Shortages, Agricultural Labor Availability Survey Results -- 2017", California Farm Bureau Federation, (2017); "U.S. Farms and the Dwindling Labor Supply from Mexico", U.C. Davis, (2013); "Labor shortage prompts NatureFresh to table future Ohio expansion", The Packer, (2017)
[4] Table: Farm Structure -- Farm land use by NUTS 2 regions -- Under glass, EuroStat; Table: Production and value of greenhouse vegetables, Statistics Canada; "2012 Census of Agriculture", United States Department of Agriculture, (2012); "Mexican: Annual increase of 1,200 hectare for greenhouse industry", Hortidaily, (2016)
[5] "This Tiny Country Feeds The World", National Geographic, (2017); "Houweling's Tomatoes Grows Produce With Mastery Under Glass", Greenhouse Grower, (2016); Houweling's Tomatoes (www.houwelings.com)
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