In farming, working with pesticides requires a balance. Too much and you risk environmental hazards and your bottom line. Too little and you risk your crop.
But what if AI could help predict the best use of fertilizer? Of course it can, but with only 13% of Georgia farmers using precision agriculture practices — methods that incorporate AI technologies to help farmers apply pesticides only where and when they are needed — we still have a long way to go.
Another fact: Innovation drives economic growth, but access to it is often limited to cities or densely populated areas. Smaller and rural communities are left out. These effects are compounded by AI, where most of its impacts are focused on customer operations, marketing, software engineering and research. This leaves AI’s potential in infrastructure, food systems, safety and health largely underexplored.
Enter Georgia AIM’s partner at Georgia Tech, the Partnership for Innovation (PIN). One PIN program in rural Jenkins County, Georgia, is testing AI’s use in pesticide applications. PIN’s research team compared different pest monitoring methods and learned AI tools can help farmers pinpoint exactly where pest outbreaks are likely — before they happen. This means treating only areas that need it, saving time, labor, and pesticide costs.
This pilot project, one of hundreds across the state supported through PIN’s unique public-private model, shows that AI and innovation don’t need to be centered in urban areas to have a significant effect, nor do you need advanced degrees to be innovative.
With these types of innovative partnerships, small towns and rural landscapes can harness innovation for economic and community growth.