Source: The Impact of Digitalization at Bayer Crop Science<\/em>, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BCS aims to enhance farmer efficiency by enabling them to remotely and constantly monitor each micro-segment of their plots and determine the precise inputs needed for improving crop productivity. Accordingly, by minimizing overuse, BCS\u2019s digital farming approach also furthers the cause of sustainable agriculture[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BCS collects data from farmers\u2019 fields through their equipment, in-field sensors, and drones, and triangulates it with third-party data from academicians, governments, and its employees. For the farm-specific data, BCS\u2019s smart drones deploy special imaging technology to identify granular crop growth patterns and point out crop stress in terms of diseases, drought, or pests much before it is visible to the naked eye; which helps farmers take preventive than curative measures. BCS has also partnered with the world\u2019s largest drone service provider, XAG, for digital farming and precision spraying in Japan, Southeast Asia, and Pakistan[2]<\/a>. Secondly, BCS\u2019s in-field sensors enable farmers to monitor soil health in terms of moisture, nutrients, salinity, etc. in real-time and together with geo-location data, enable them to optimize input use. Lastly, through smart combines having sensors and video imaging features, BCS enables farmers to collect rich data. For instance, precision planters couple location data with past and forecasted field trends to plant seeds at the right location, spacing, and depth[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BCS\u2019s digital applications like Climate FieldView™ leverage AI and billions of data points collected through its robust data pipeline to help farmers know which right product to apply, where and when, at in what quantity specific to their fields. Apart from maximizing yields and thus revenues, it also helps farmers cut costs, save time, and conserve inputs, including soil. Similarly, through image recognition, Climate FieldView™ enables early detection of diseases before they are manifested as wilting, browning, molding, or rotting and suggests mitigation measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t Source: Introducing Climate FieldView<\/em> at Bayer Crop Science<\/em>, 2021[4]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor precision planting and precision farming, companies like Bayer work really closely with the farmers to understand their land, their acreage, the type of soil they have, the water flow, and then suggest the best seeds and best plant breeds that will thrive in those conditions\u201d says Michelle Lacy, data strategy lead for R&D in the Plant Biotechnology Division at Bayer Crop Science[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BCS\u2019s closed-loop process generates rich data that it leverages for accelerating the pace and success of plant breeding innovations by accurately predicting genetic outcomes during trials. Scientists use machine learning to simulate a new plant variety\u2019s performance in thousands of micro-level agroclimatic and soil conditions, helping breeders create a thoroughly vetted product at a much lower cost. Additionally, Nalini Polavarapu, Enterprise Data Science Strategy Lead at BCS says “We were able to save an entire year of testing in our pipeline by using machine learning\u201d[6]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, in partnership with Google Cloud, BCS leverages ML to breed seeds that are custom-designed to thrive in specific regions, climates, and soil types. Plant height, color\/greenness, and plant diseases\/infections as captured by images are triangulated with soil, irrigation, and fertilization data to identify the most resilient breeds[7]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through an AI assistant created for breeders, BCS allows them to identify condition-specific traits of resilient varieties, and then suggest where exactly in the plant genome can they find the associated genes. Additionally, post disasters or diseases, BCS\u2019s drone images help estimate crop damage to aid in insurance claims processing[8]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Data Science in Plant Breeding at Bayer Crop Science<\/em>[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, apart from precision product design, BCS characterizes the soil properties of their internal testing network and conducts environmental similarity calculations and historical modeling to establish a representative global testing network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To sustainably drive innovation, BCS claims strict adherence to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) data principles; allowing users to be in control of their data. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely important,\u201d Lacy says. \u201cIt\u2019s the foundation of our data strategy\u201d[10]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In summary, Bayer Crop Science\u2019s holistic approach to seamless on-farm data creation and collection, machine learning deployment to generate valuable insights for real-time precision farming decisions, and leveraging data for R&D are transforming the productivity frontiers in Agricultural ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> \u201cDigital Farming Systems,\u201d accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.bayer.com\/en\/agriculture\/digital-farming-systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> \u201cBayer and XAG Collaborate to Bring Digital Farming Technology to Smallholder Farmers in Southeast Asia & Pakistan,\u201d accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.xa.com\/en\/news\/official\/xag\/77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/a> \u201cDigital Farming,\u201d accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.bayer.com\/en\/agriculture\/digital-farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/a> Introducing Climate FieldView<\/em>, 2021, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-3BdOq63aeU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/a> Senior Writer, \u201cTransforming Analytics into Business Impact,\u201d CIO, accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.cio.com\/article\/193943\/transforming-analytics-into-business-impact.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/a> \u201cMachine Learning in Agriculture,\u201d accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.bayer.com\/en\/agriculture\/article\/machine-learning-uses-agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/a> \u201cImproving Soil Health and Crop Management with Geospatial Analytics on BigQuery and Dataflow.,\u201d Google Cloud Blog, accessed October 2, 2022, https:\/\/cloud.google.com\/blog\/products\/data-analytics\/how-bayer-crop-science-uses-bigquery-and-geobeam-improve-soil-health\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/a> \u201cData Science in Plant Breeding,\u201d accessed October 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.bayer.com\/en\/agriculture\/article\/how-math-and-data-science-accelerate-innovation-while-conserving.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBuilding a data pipeline<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Delivering insights-based value to farmers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Capturing value through AI-driven product R&D<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nResponsible Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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