SAS AI Platform to Help A&T, N.C. State Take Research to the People

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 24, 2024) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will partner with North Carolina State University and data and AI (artificial intelligence) provider SAS to create a unique, cloud-based platform to advance agricultural research at the two land-grant universities and tailor the platform to make those results easier to deliver across the state.

Using a $1 million allocation from the N.C. General Assembly, SAS will use the SAS® Viya® data and AI platform to allow researchers at both universities to integrate data from many different sources;  manage it more effectively; and present it more easily to farmers, ranchers, growers and producers across the state through the universities’ Cooperative Extension divisions.

“SAS Viya will allow us to expand our ‘precision,’ or data-driven, agricultural research by giving us robust, predictive analytical power,” said Gregory Goins, Ph.D., associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES). “Agriculture is already data-driven. These tools give farmers and researchers alike more insight to make cost-saving decisions and problem solve, whether in the lab or in the field.”

SAS Viya is also expected to help the college grow its $46 million research portfolio by making grants easier to obtain, said Shirley Hymon-Parker, Ph.D., CAES interim dean.

"As the nation’s largest land-grant HBCU, we are excited to use this platform. We expect it to not only boost our research capacity, but to help us attract top student and faculty talent and to develop data-driven, ‘farm of the future’ capabilities,” she said. “We look forward to bringing research out of the lab faster and more effectively, and into the communities that are eager to use it."

One of the A&T researchers using the platform is Harmandeep Sharma, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in crop science in the CAES.

Sharma, the director of the college’s plant sensor lab, will use the SAS Viya platform to analyze data from both drones and in-ground sensors monitoring specialty crops, such as hot peppers, industrial hemp and fresh market tomatoes. Her goal is to develop predictive models for studying the impacts of precise amounts of such inputs as irrigation water and fertilizers, on crop production and quality.

“This platform will help us transfer knowledge on sustainable crop production much more efficiently, ultimately benefiting small-scale farmers with limited resources who are interested in adopting high-value crops,” she said.

Sharma is one of four recipients of the SAS HBCU+ Fellow Award, given this year in April. Through this program, she will receive tailored support for teaching and learning data analytics, along with access to technical experts and curriculum consultants to help her use the SAS Viya platform with her classes.

The partnership builds on previous work between SAS and N.C. State’s Plant Science Initiative. One of NCSU’s projects used data and in-field sensors to detect diseases and improve the profitability of sweet potatoes.

“This partnership between SAS and the two N.C. land grant universities will energize and accelerate discoveries and delivery of solutions and opportunities to our agriculture sector,” said Steven Lommel, director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service and associate dean for research at N.C. State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Analytics-based solutions accelerated by this partnership will increase yields, efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability while reducing inputs and costs.”

According to legislators, the General Assembly’s investment in the platform for the two land-grants represents an investment in the state’s $111 billion agriculture sector.

“We see this public-private partnership as an opportunity to serve agriculture in an innovative way – unlocking information, insights and new approaches to benefit our state’s growers, producers and researchers,” Sen. Brent Jackson, chairman of the Agriculture and Appropriations committees in the chamber, told SAS. “These collaborative efforts from two great universities are vital to the ongoing effort around continued advancement in agriculture.”