Through the partnership, the University of Florida aims to help expand the use of AI and address some of society’s pressing needs such as productivity in agriculture

University of Florida

University of Florida partners with three other universities on agriculture. (Credit: Pixabay/Gordon Johnson)

The University of Florida (UF) is partnering with three other American universities including the University of Pennsylvania, Purdue University and University of California Merced, on $26m grant to develop new technologies and systems to support farmers in producing more food with less water and energy. 

The grant is the latest development in the university’s AI initiative to expand its use in research so that it can help address some of the pressing needs of the society.  

The University of Pennsylvania is the lead institution on the grant and the research will be headquartered at its Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag), one of National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Engineering Research Centers established this month.  

At the research centre, new technologies will be developed as well as students, engineers, agriculture professionals and other members from farming communities will be educated through audience-specific lessons and hands-on, classroom, laboratory and field activities.  

The approach is expected to bring academic, government and industry partners together with the farming community and the research centre expects to create an ecosystem where the new technologies and practices could be developed into commercial products with an economic impact.  

The research centre expects to turn new technologies into commercial products 

The university will participate in the research through a dozen faculty members and graduate students from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and the College of Education. 

University of Florida site director David Arnold said: “UF is a major partner in all facets of this initiative. 

“We will leverage our diverse resources, ranging from the recently announced NVIDIA AI supercomputer and our nanotechnology facilities to the agricultural research and Extension centres located throughout the state. I am excited to help synergize expertise and innovation from multiple departments and colleges.”