A 2021 study found that 78% of fruit production, 54% of vegetable production, and 32% of grain production would be lost if farmers did not use pesticides. At the same time, pesticide application methods are not ideal. The only way to ensure that you are applying enough insecticide is to apply in large quantities. That's bad for farmers' wallets and bad for the environment.
AgZen, a company born out of more than a decade of engineering research at MIT, also offers a new solution that uses AI to ensure plants get the right amount of spray, making real-time adjustments to optimize pesticide use. will become. Company CEO Vishnu Jayaprakash told TechCrunch that RealCoverage can detect droplets as small as 150 microns and can adjust spray parameters such as pressure, flow rate, boom height and speed in real time. The company claims this maximizes application efficiency even at speeds up to 12 miles per hour.
The implications of this technology are enormous. AgZen claims that its algorithms and optimizations can reduce chemical usage by up to 50%, significantly reducing input costs for farmers while maintaining crop health and yield. AgZen tests its products through more than three years of field trials on a variety of crops, and last year conducted 12 successful pilots and trials in the U.S. and Europe with some of the world's largest producers, it told TechCrunch. Told.
The real winners in all this may turn out to be public health and the environment. With studies showing widespread contamination of agricultural rivers, wells, and aquifers from pesticide runoff and soils around the world at high risk of pesticide contamination, agtech companies are scrambling for solutions. There is. AgZen's technology could help reduce these impacts by reducing foliar insecticide usage by 30% to 50%, with improvements in application efficiency highlighted in a recent report. Aligned with important needs.
The company also suggests that RealCoverage could be a valuable tool for farmers trying to evade regulators. The EPA has been cautious about pesticide spills for some time. Improve pesticide tracking, reduce environmental impact, and provide insights for designing new formulations and optimizing farm operations globally by providing accurate data in real-time on how much pesticide is on target. We can provide it.
AgZen is preparing to commercially launch RealCoverage later this year through a lease-to-own program to make the system economically viable for farmers. The company suggests that by reducing chemical usage, the system will pay for itself within one season.