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Tapping new technology to feed the world Better Batting Average Diggin' In Diggin' In Mike Gore hears the clock ticking. And while it's not an alarm clock, it's part of what gets him going every day. Gore, an associate professor of molecular breeding and genetics at Cornell University, conducts research at the intersection of several disciplines. His lab uses quantitative genetics, genomics, analytical chemistry and remote sensing to explore the genetic basis of trait variation in crops such as corn, oat and cassava. Plant breeding has been going on for 10,000 years, Gore says, but technology— unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robots, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning—is revolutionizing the practice. "One role that we plant breeders can play is to learn how to integrate these cutting-edge technologies into research programs," he says, "so that we can more efficiently and effectively select [plant variations] for the high-yielding, or highly nutritious cultivar that can help feed the world's population." Feeding the world's population: It's a huge challenge for plant breeders, Gore says, as well as for researchers in other disciplines. Cornell is addressing it with the Cornell Initiative for Digital Agriculture (CIDA), which is leveraging digital innovations in agriculture to improve the sustainability, profitability, resiliency and efficiency of the world's food systems. Gore is in the CIDA leadership group. Currently at around 7.6 billion people, Earth's population is expected to reach around 10 billion by 2050. How will we feed all those people in an efficient and sustainable way? Gore admits that, although there's still time to come up with viable solutions, he's feeling the urgency. "I think all plant scientists do," he says. "We all share that passion, but we TECHNOLOGY | By Tom Fleischman, Cornell Chronicle Photos by Lindsay France, Cornell Brand Communications 50 POTATO GROWER | FEBRUARY 2019 A TerraSentia robot, which is being trained to perform remote diagnostics on individual corn plants, moves between rows of corn at Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, N.Y. New technologies enable growers and researchers to identify key plant developmental stages throughout the season, not just at harvest.