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Advancing artificial intelligence technology to improve crop quality and farmer livelihood

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When Ukko Agro started their Protein Industries Canada project in October 2023, it was with the goal of using artificial intelligence to predict and control two of the most prominent diseases in Canadian lentil crops: anthracnose and Ascochyta blight. As they developed their technology, however, they found it had plenty more potential. Now, their plans have evolved beyond disease control, and involve helping farmers address agronomic decisions related to weather, inputs and growth staging.

Photo source: Farmtario. Photo credit: Ukko Agro.

“Along the way, we found efficiencies, we found better ways of doing things,” said Ukko Agro Co-Founder and CEO Avi Bhargava. “So today, we have built … a growth staging model into this, which adjusts maps and forecasted growth stages automatically in the field, based on a feedback loop. And then secondly, we have created a version 1.0 disease forecasting, which is in our system already.”

The benefits of such robust in-field technology isn’t going unnoticed by the agriculture community. Farmers across Canada are adopting AI technology at an increasing rate, as it becomes more adept at helping them become more sustainable, more efficient and more profitable. Still in development, Ukko Agro’s AI technology is already catching the attention of farmer groups, particularly Sask Pulse and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Partners like these, Bhargava explained, have played an important role in helping Ukko Agro further develop its technology. They’ve not only helped the company expand its knowledge base, but also better connect with what the industry is looking for, enabling Ukko Agro to provide farmers with exactly what they need.

“The major benefit is you’re applying the right product at the right time, so there’s a sustainability angle to it, but also that your operation efforts are not wasted; you’re able to do a lot more with a lot less,” Bhargava said. “An unexpected but meaningful benefit of this is its impact on mental health. We know people who spend long hours out scouting—it’s physically demanding and mentally draining to be out there for so long. With our system, we can give them some of that time back.”

While these new partnerships are helping the AI platform reach new users, Bhargava said Ukko Agro’s work with its original Protein Industries Canada partners—Hawk’s Agro and Three Farmers Foods—acted as a foundation in helping the company see the new potential in its work. Because of the success it was seeing in detecting lentil diseases, and the ripple benefits it had for ingredient manufacturers and food processors, Ukko Agro was able to expand its technology to other crop quality factors, particularly climate.

From there, Bhargava said, the company hopes to expand into other growth factors, helping Western Canadian producers anticipate how their crops are growing—and what might be affecting them—in every field, without sacrificing time and other inputs.

Learn more about Ukko Agro

Featured interviewee

Avi B

Avi Bhargava

Founder & CEO

Ukko Agro