National Chung Hsing University researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered irrigation calculator capable of reducing water use in rice farming by 20 percent.
The calculator’s AI engine, which can identify the important physiological characteristics of a rice crop, provides detailed advice on irrigation within 10 to 15 seconds by analyzing photographs submitted by users, Chu Yen-wei (朱彥煒), a professor at the university’s Graduate Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, said on Tuesday.
A pilot 6 hectare plot belonging to Changhua County-based Rice House Co, which was irrigated using the calculator’s guidance, used 20 percent less water than traditional methods, Chu said.
Photo: CNA
Use of the calculator would be expanded to 1,400 hectares of the firm’s fields in the county, he said.
If the reductions in Changhua were to be applied nationwide, it would cut annual rice growers’ water consumption by 1.2 billion cubic meters, Chu said.
The application also has the potential to reduce carbon emissions from rice operations by 31,500 tonnes and save about NT$165 million (US$5.12 million) in irrigation costs per year, he said.
Rice House chairman Chen Chao-hao (陳肇浩) said that the firm had grown about 36 tonnes of rice in the first six months of this year in cooperation with Chu’s team.
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