This project, SierTech, emerged from the challenges in the ornamental horticulture sector, where growth monitoring and pest detection are often still based on expertise and experience, but knowledgeable personnel are scarce. In every ornamental crop, a significant amount of time is spent detecting diseases and pests and monitoring plant growth and quality. The earlier problems can be identified and addressed, the less quality loss or waste occurs. Due to the size of the businesses and plots, as well as the density of plants, scouting can be very time-consuming. Additionally, well-trained personnel are needed to recognize diseases and pests and to combat them effectively.

Many plant species, whether grown in open soil or pots, are categorized for sale into size classes based on height or diameter, with each class sold at a different price. An accurate estimation of stock within the company and its localization can improve sales and strengthen the grower-customer relationship.

Within SierTech, we aim to develop tools where a trained AI model, using camera images, can identify problem areas, highlight hotspots on a map of the business, and track the efficiency of interventions. These images can be captured using drones, fixed cameras, or even smartphones, and various possibilities will be explored.