Russia brings AI to farming – report

Addis Ababa, December 15, 2023 (FBC) – The mass introduction of AI-based (artificial intelligence) autonomous tractors into the Russian agro-industrial sector has begun, local media, TASS, reported, citing developer Cognitive Pilot.

The company, which is producing the Cognitive Agro Pilot autonomous driving system for agricultural machinery based on AI technologies, told the outlet that the system has no analogs in the world. The developer insists that automated tillage by a self-driving truck could boost farming productivity by 25% and help preserve up to 20-40% more materials, such as fertilizer and seeds.

“Cognitive Pilot summarized results of operations for tractors equipped with the AI-based Cognitive Agro Pilot system in Russia. Smart machinery tilled more than 2.3 million hectares in total,” the company’s press service told TASS.

The report highlighted that, in total, 312 tractors equipped with the Cognitive Agro Pilot have been operating on Russian farms from March to November. Using the system has helped farmers save, on average, 2.6 million rubles ($28,700) per field with an area of 1,000 hectares, or more than 5 billion rubles ($56 million) in total.

According to the developer, this is the first case of large-scale commercial use of AI in Russia for tractors. “We have received a very strong result. Actually, our smart machinery has worked for slightly more than a third of the season, and the results confirm the high potential and prospects of using our robotic tractors,” said Cognitive Pilot CEO Olga Uskova.