Development of AI and Automation in Farming System

Developing an AI platform in the farming system reduces the time needed to conduct experiments and get results quicker.

FREMONT, CA: Even if the food supply has stabilised, the need for locally grown products has grown as a result, which has hastened Singapore's government's push for food resiliency through self-sufficiency. The Singapore Food Agency's (SFA30 )'s by 30 targets took centre stage, but as the pandemic troubles subsided, other challenges gained attention.

The spike in gas and agricultural product prices caused the world to experience another shock in terms of food availability and pricing due to the unanticipated effects of the Ukraine war. With Singapore producing only about 10 per cent of its food, reliance on imports puts them in a risky situation where they could be surprised by unforeseen disruptions in the processes involved in the upstream supply chain.

When people first started playing at casinos in 2010, I was based in Macau, which at the time, was the centre of the global gaming industry. It was undoubtedly enlightening, and I frequently observed people overpaying for upscale cuisine and fancy items. The farming system was only exposed to the portion of the food supply chain that is consumed. Therefore, they were unaware of what transpired in the background. After working in casino gaming for almost six years, people made the decision to return to Singapore and focus on the green economy sectors as my next field of endeavour.

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In 2016, the vertical farming sector was still in its infancy, and information on its commercial potential was not easily accessible. However, after some investigation and financial modelling, it was discovered that the agritech sector needed a breakthrough that would integrate plant science to boost yields, engineering to achieve economies of scale, and a strong commercialisation strategy.

Artisan Green began operating in 2018 as a cutting-edge indoor farm utilising hydroponics and controlled environment methods. Individuals established themselves as Singapore's sole indoor farm within the first year, farming baby spinach, one of the most delicate crops to cultivate indoors.

People achieved their first success in an excursion into the vertical farming industry by growing their own product that was superior to that of imports through further study and testing. The requirement for adopting a system that enables them to execute more trials in a shorter amount of time is due to the ongoing need for research and development. Integrating automation and AI is essential for scaling production, particularly to develop their new farm, which will raise the production area from 300m2 to 5,400m2.

Scaling up production with automation and AI

Singapore is renowned for having a limited supply of resources like food, water, and land. Singapore has guaranteed a reliable water supply through innovation and technology. There should be no barrier preventing us from achieving this level of food resilience as well.

One approach would be automating the agricultural process to make it more productive and efficient, similar to a factory line. People will only experience a four-fold increase in manpower because of the Automated Storage and Retrieval System, which autonomously transports crops to different stations from seeding to post-harvesting. This is despite nearly doubling our production footprint.