Click here for updates on this story
SALINAS, Calif. (KSBW) — Artificial intelligence and robotics are being introduced to farming in the Salinas Valley, with Reservoir Farms hosting its first-ever “Ruggedize Forum” to showcase cutting-edge technology designed to tackle challenges faced by farmers.
The event featured equipment such as laser weeders, multifunction harvesters, and AI-powered strawberry sprayers, each with unique capabilities to address agricultural needs.
“At this point, technology for agriculture is just not optional. In order for us to have resilient agricultural ecosystems, we need technology. It’s the only way that we’ll be able to continue to farm in California, Monterey County,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of Reservoir Farms.
Carbon Robotics presented its laser weeder, which uses powerful lasers to eliminate weeds.
“Fundamentally, this is an AI robot because how do you detect the weeds? How do you put the lasers on the weed? It’s all about these AI systems, cameras, lights, intelligent processing GPUs on their Nvidia GPUs on their, of course, machine kills these weeds,”said Paul Mikesell, Founder and CEO of Carbon Robotics.
The laser weeder aims to provide farmers with an alternative to chemical weed control.
“The chemicals hurt the plants. It hurts the crops. So you find when you do laser weeding instead, you get a yield improvement—30%, 40%, 50% more crops out of the same acreage with less water, less fertilizer, because again, you’re not beating those crops up. And that makes farmers more profitable and more consistent in their operations,” said Mikesell.
Sami Robotics has been testing its multifunction harvester in the area for the past two months.
“What we wanted really to target are vegetables like broccoli and leafy greens like romaine and iceberg. I really wanted to go where labor is really being an issue,”said Pascal Lebrecque, Co-Founder of Sami Robotics.
The harvester can identify vegetables ready for picking and harvest them in under three seconds.
Bonsai Robotics showcased its strawberry sprayer at the forum.
“This machine specifically is a strawberry sprayer. So it’s electric or hybrid electric option. You reduce the cost of the machine by significant amounts. You reduce the cost of diesel and run without labor. So it’s an all-in-one package that really drives the value down to the grower to make farming more economical,” said Tyler Niday, Co-Founder and CEO of Bonsai Robotics.
Reservoir Farms hopes the forum demonstrates the possibilities of integrating technology into agriculture.
“Anything is possible in agriculture, that automation is possible, that upskilling of the workforce is possible, that replacing and reducing chemicals is possible, and maybe even that it’s achievable,” said Bernstein.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
