October 17, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

The AI revolution has officially made its way into the ag space. Syngenta Crop Protection, a North Carolina-based business unit of the global Syngenta Group, has entered into a partnership with Taranis, a vertical AI-powered crop-intelligence platform with locations in the U.S., Brazil and Israel. The multi-year agreement is designed to usher in advanced AI-powered advice and conservation-related services to improve farm productivity and profitability, per the announcement.

As growers continue to face elevated costs, exacerbated by weed, insect and disease pressure, the need is urgent to bolster productivity and yield, which is what Taranis’ solution sets out to do. According to Crunchbase, Taranis is a Series D company, the last round of which was in 2022. At that time, the startup raised $40 million in a fundraising led by European climate tech fund Inven Capital, a couple of new backers and a lineup of existing investors.

Through the collaboration, Taranis and Syngenta are looking to empower ag advisors, retailers and growers with intelligence services, leaf-level imagery and a trendy AI-driven ag assistant. Leaf-level insights extend to areas such as stand count, weed and disease detection, insect damage, nutrition deficiency and field health trends.

Additionally, Taranis will lend its conservation services to help farmers receive the greatest benefit from conservation programs. The companies also point to future collaborations through which Syngenta’s Cropwise platform would be integrated with Taranis’ Intelligence Service to further improve digital agronomy solutions for retail partners.

Transforming the way ag retailers and growers make crop-input and farm management decisions is a Herculean task, both in season and for future seasonal planning. Taranis CEO Opher Flohr expects the new collaboration with Syngenta will accelerate that process, resulting in more efficient farming operations, better grower satisfaction and retention, and greater profits for retailers.

Flohr, stated, “Having an instantaneous understanding of the issues and the optimal solution creates efficiencies and opportunities the industry has never seen before. This collaboration with Syngenta is a significant step forward in driving the AI revolution for production agriculture.”

Launched earlier this year, Taranis’ AI assistant is considered a first mover for ag retailers and producers, integrating data from numerous sources, such as images, text and audio through an agronomic lens. By harnessing several years worth of in-season crop data from fields across the U.S., the ag assistant delivers “field-specific, detailed, comprehensive insights and actionable recommendations to advisors and growers,” per the company. The tool offers growers a fresh approach to farm management in the AI era.

Paul Backman, head of North America Crop Protection digital agriculture & sustainable solutions at Syngenta, stated, “We believe this collaboration with Taranis will help retailers tap into the full potential of AI and digital agronomy, unlocking new levels of operational efficiencies. By combining Syngenta’s industry-leading portfolio with Taranis’ AI-driven insights, we empower retailers to deliver better, faster and more precise service to their grower-customers.”

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