Cropsia leverages drone-collected aerial imagery and advanced computer vision to identify crop diseases early, helping farmers prevent significant production losses. Using a dataset of 87,000+ images and image classification models, Cropsia provides actionable recommendations through a user-friendly app tailored for farm management.
The Global Challenge
Cropsia is designed to tackle the massive global problem of crop disease, which causes an estimated $220 billion in losses annually—equivalent to about 40% of global crop production according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Early identification and prevention of crop diseases are crucial for improving food security and farmers' livelihoods worldwide.
Our Solution
Our solution uses drones to collect high-resolution aerial images of farmland, including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images that highlight plant health. These images serve as inputs for a computer vision system trained to recognize and classify 38 different plant diseases.
We have assembled a comprehensive dataset of over 87,000 images of healthy and diseased plants sourced from Kaggle and other agricultural datasets. Our algorithm, built on standard convolutional neural network architectures inspired by the MNIST dataset, processes drone imagery to detect subtle signs of disease spread that might be missed by the naked eye.
Technology Features
Disease Detection & Recommendations: The system doesn't just diagnose disease; it also generates practical recommendations tailored to specific crops and disease types, helping farmers take timely action to prevent further spread and minimize crop loss.
User-Friendly App Interface: To make this technology accessible, we are developing an intuitive app interface that farm owners can use to monitor their fields in real time, receive alerts, and review detailed analytics on crop health. The app provides full control over monitoring frequency and data visualization, empowering farmers with actionable insights.
Cost Analysis Tools: Additionally, we provide a cost analysis tool (available online) allowing farmers and agribusinesses to estimate potential savings and return on investment when deploying our drone and AI-based monitoring system.
Impact & Vision
Through Cropsia, we aim to combine the latest advances in drone technology, AI-powered computer vision, and user-centric design to revolutionize crop disease management and enhance sustainable agriculture practices globally.
By democratizing access to advanced agricultural monitoring, Cropsia empowers farmers of all scales to protect their crops, increase yields, and contribute to global food security.