Decoding Soil Health with Weeds & AI for Smallholder Conservation Agriculture Farmers

Introduction: 

• Weeds from conventional farming refer to unwanted plants that grow among cultivated crops and are considered
• competition for water, nutrients, sunlight, and space.
• They are managed using chemical herbicides, mechanical tillage, or manual removal.
• They are viewed as a threat to crop yields and farm productivity.
• In Agroecological, Regenerative & Conservation Agriculture, weeds are indicators of soil health, fertility
• imbalances, compaction, biodiversity, moisture levels, or past land use, and are part of the natural ecological balance.
• Weeds are soil messengers, volunteer plants, opportunistic species, and / early succession plants.
• Artificial Intelligence transforms farming through technological innovation.
• AI improves efficiency using machine learning algorithms.
• Automation and analytics enhance traditional farming practices.
• Precision agriculture could solve localized farming challenges.
• Weed indicators with AI assess soil health.
• Examples of Apps: Flora Icognita, PlantNet, ChatGPT