This is one of five vignettes showcasing faculty research related to redesigning 21st century agri-food systems.
Yu Jiang collaborates with colleagues in plant breeding, plant pathology, soil science and other fields to build digital agriculture technologies that support growers and researchers in New York and beyond.
An assistant professor of systems engineering and data analytics in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Jiang has developed several technologies, including a thermal and multispectral imaging system that growers can drive through their fields to improve grapevine pruning efficiency; facial-recognition AI technology to recognize powdery mildew fungus before it can devastate crops; and autonomous robots that can drive through vineyards and collect myriad data for plant breeders and pathologists.
Seeding the next green revolution requires radical collaborations between researchers and agri-food system stakeholders.
“Considering everybody in the agri-food system is really important not only for technology translation and adoption, but also for diversity and inclusion issues that we need to address within this new round of agricultural revolution,” Jiang said.