WSU Named Top 25 in Precision Ag

Industry professionals have named Washington State University one of the 25 best colleges in the world for precision agriculture.  Editors of the journal Precision Ag Professional ranked Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems and Agricultural Technology and Production Management among the top precision agriculture programs at four-year colleges and universities.  The list was based on a survey of program leaders that weighed reputations in education, research and extension.  This new ranking aids WSU’s Drive to 25 effort to join the world’s top public research universities, as well as help farmers everywhere with the growing problem of labor questions.

Precision ag, combined with mechanization and automation, is the key to reduce labor use, make field workers safer, and gives farmers the tools to cut use of chemicals, water, and other important resources.

“Everything begins with a machine,” said Manoj Karkee, a CPAAS faculty member engineer who develops apple-picking robots and intelligent systems that detect when crops need water.

“It’s about making machines that can not only do our work for us, but do it the right way at the right time,” Karkee added. “It’s a robot that picks only ripe apples, or sensing and data analysis techniques that know when a plant needs water or fertilizer.”

“Our faculty and students are making a big difference in the future of agriculture,” said Qin Zhang, professor and director of CPAAS. “We’re developing the next generation of machine vision, big-data techniques, automation and robotics, giving farmers, industry and scientists ways to grow valuable crops more safely and efficiently.”

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