Young Tunisians have succeeded in developing new applications based on artificial intelligence (AI), usable in various agricultural activities.
Presented Friday at an exhibition held at the City of Culture in Tunis under the theme "Private initiative, innovation and agricultural products for sustainable agriculture," on the sidelines of the celebration of the National Day of Agriculture, these innovations relate to the early detection of fire outbreaks, the management of agricultural irrigation and the development of water.
The developers of these applications stressed, in statements to TAP, the need to innovate in order to meet the challenges facing the agricultural sector in Tunisia.
They noted that artificial intelligence can be at the service of Tunisian agriculture and contribute to the modernisation of the sector, which is called upon to follow technological developments.
Abdelmonem Kouka, co-founder of a startup specialising in innovative solutions in the agricultural field, presented their creation which consists of a complete system for monitoring agricultural systems through sensors linked to cameras using artificial intelligence which facilitates the daily tasks of the farmer.
The application, which is currently in the testing phase, allows for the early detection of fires, theft and the removal of pests (it emits sounds to keep away birds that may cause damage to crops), as well as wild boars.
For Kouka, this innovative market is a promoter, stressing that these types of applications contribute to the modernisation of the agricultural sector via artificial intelligence.
For his part, young entrepreneur Ismail Thabet has developed an application called "Irwini", based on an intelligent irrigation system that has been tested in the southern oases.
According to Thabet, the application consists of a progressive irrigation system, in the sense that the farmer will have the possibility to install the device in the well or in the water sources he uses, next to other devices allowing to control the irrigation operation, to manage it and to direct it in parallel to the improvement of the soil quality and the humidity level, which will allow, consequently, to take the appropriate decision concerning the irrigation and to avoid the waste of water.
This young creator interacts with customers in the governorates of Gafsa, Tozeur and Kébili.
The results, according to him, are convincing, which will encourage this young person to generalise the project to several regions of the country.
He said that the cost of this application and the related materials to carry out the irrigation do not exceed 1500 dinars.
Karim Fethallah, who holds a PhD in computer science, presented his project, which was developed in collaboration with a number of students.
It is a startup that has won several innovation awards and has developed a fire early warning system.
He said that the application is still in the testing phase, consisting of an early warning system for fires that occur in field crops and forests.
According to him, the legal aspect of the constitution of this startup has already been completed, while its owner is still looking for financing to transform the idea into a real project that can be sold on the local market or abroad.
He mentioned that some Algerian parties have shown interest in supporting this smart application, adding that at the beginning of this summer, he will start experimenting with the application of this fire alarm system in the forests of the Bizerte and Kef governorates.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse