Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Climate-resilient agriculture uses biotechnological innovation and AI-based technology to make food systems more resilient to ever more demanding weather conditions. Bayer, for instance, has taken the lead with genetically compact, wind-resistant corn with its Presion Smart Corn System, which is developed to tolerate stressful weather and allow more closely planted acres on the same acres of land. This technology leverages heritage advances in plant breeding, as a precision-first, integrated strategy to optimize yield, minimize crop loss, and leverage data-driven agronomy through technologies like Climate FieldView.

Globally, particularly in the Global South, AI‑driven technologies are revolutionizing small‑holder agriculture. In rural India, for example, farmers employing AI‑driven weather prediction systems are paying off debts and accumulating savings, prompting multi-billion-dollar efforts to expand this technology throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Such solutions, under the Agriculture Innovation Mechanism for Scale (a global initiative focused on scaling cost-effective agricultural innovation to improve the livelihoods of farmers in low and middle income countries), combine localized weather data, AI-driven forecasts, and mobile networks to benefit up to 60 million farmers by 2025 using tools like AgriLLM to provide customized assistance to farmers and extension agents.

Coupling biotech and artificial intelligence advancements, climate‑resilient agriculture also relies on monitoring natural systems like soil conditions. Companies using machine‑learning and spectral sensors are upgrading soil carbon mapping to inform regenerative farming practices. This supports farms in tracking carbon sequestration as part of sustainable land management. The technologies help protocols boost agricultural resilience by enabling real-time monitoring and actionable feedback for practices like no‑till and cover cropping.

Together, these strategies—biotech seed improvements, AI-supported smallholder technology, and data-based soil management—are representative of an integrated framework: fortifying crops at the genetic level, equipping farmers with good decision-making tools, and supporting ecological resilience. This multifaceted innovation makes food security and land resilience strengthen in response to increased climate risks.

References:

"A Game-Changing Approach to Tackle Farming's Toughest Challenges." Axios, sponsored by Bayer, www.axios.com/sponsored/a-game-changing-approach-to-tackle-farmings-toughest-challenges. 

Bahadur, Aditya, and Toby Phillips. "Comment: How Empowering Smallholder Farmers with AI Tools Can Bolster Global Food Security." Reuters, 10 Jan. 2025, www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/comment-how-empowering-smallholder-farmers-with-ai-tools-can-bolster-global-food-2025-01-10. 

Agrawal, Nidhi. "From Field to the Cloud: How AI Is Helping Regenerative Agriculture to Grow." Reuters, 18 Sept. 2024, www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity/field-cloud-how-ai-is-helping-regenerative-agriculture-grow-2024-09-18.

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