Meet Bradford University professor who believes drones could revolutionise global farming

The University of Bradford’s Professor Sankar Sivarajah believes agriculture could be transformed by the intelligent use of swarms of AI (artificial intelligence) drones.

The University of Bradford has signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Wide Fund for Nature Central and Eastern Europe to promote circular economies and sustainable development.

It will mean a closer working relationship between the two organisations and collaborations on tackling issues like climate change.

University Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Zahir Irani, who co-signed the pledge, said: “This is a proud and important moment for the university. This memorandum underlines our serious commitment to tackling issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss and to create global leaders who are keenly aware of the moral imperative for organisations to act responsibly and bring about meaningful change.”

Prof Sivarajah added: “Everything we do is underpinned by an ethos which is not just sympathetic to the environmental problems we’re facing but active in addressing those problems.

“The world needs meaningful change and our programmes are designed to create the business leaders of the future – people who will be willing to question established practices, to champion responsible business practices in tackling societal issues such as climate crisis.”

Prof Sivarajah is involved in research which could see drones used en masse on farms, particularly in places like Australia and Africa.

He said: “It has applications in places where there is a need for farmers to explore vast areas of inaccessible land... the next step would be to simulate and test the real thing. Agri-tech and food security is a huge area, both in the UK and abroad. As AI grows, this will become much more important.”

The University of Bradford secured £700,000 last year from the Office for Students to begin a BSc (Hons) in Applied AI and an MSc in Applied AI and Data Analytics. Students in the school have the opportunity to seek professional certifications from collaborators such as Amazon Web Services Academy and SAS UK to support their career development.

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