Mohsen Mesgaran, at the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, and team are developing a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence to help growers, backyard gardeners, landowners and others identify and treat weeds. The state Department of Food and Agriculture is funding the project with a grant of nearly $430,000. The development is expected to take two years.
UC Davis researchers developed "Google Weed View," an AI tool that uses Google Street View images to detect invasive johnsongrass. The model identified 2,000 locations at low cost and could soon scale to monitor weeds nationwide.
Troy Magney, an assistant professor at UC Davis, created a remote phenotype monitoring machine called TSWIFT, named after Taylor Swift. It measures plant performance and stress by tracking light reflection, aiding research on crop resilience.
Troy Magney, Dept. of Plant Sciences, is using methods such as hyperspectral imaging – a remote sensing technique – to measure plant water stress, nutrient status, biomass, and photosynthesis in order to make informed decisions about water and fertilizer management. This is important for global agriculture in the future.
