Can Artificial Intelligence Predict Citrus Yields Better Than Humans?

Advanced technology continues to gain ground with farmers. University of Florida researchers are using artificial intelligence to help citrus growers better forecast their seasonal production. So far, they've found in a preliminary study their technology predicts yields with 98% accuracy. That's way up from the 75% to 85% accuracy growers get when they count their trees manually, says Yiannis Ampatzidis, a UF/IFAS Associate Professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "Citrus yield predictions give growers, packinghouses, and other distributors critical information before the farmers harvest the fruit," Ampatzidis says.