Chapingo Launches AI Degree to Transform Agriculture

Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo (UACh) is expanding its academic offerings with the launch of a new degree program in Artificial Intelligence Engineering in Agriculture (IIAA), which will begin in the upcoming academic year.

This decision, approved during a session of the University Council, aims to meet the growing demand for advanced technologies in the agri-food sector. The new program will join the university’s already well-established Agricultural Mechanical Engineering (IMA) and Agricultural Mechatronics Engineering (IMTA) degrees. Ángel Garduño, Rector, UACh, emphasized that the curriculum is designed to train multidisciplinary professionals by integrating theory, hands-on experience, and innovation.

The IIAA curriculum is structured to be completed over eight semesters and offers a balanced blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Core subjects include programming, mathematical logic, Bayesian statistics, data science, deep learning, computer vision, sensors, IoT, neural networks, and modeling of agricultural biosystems. In addition, students will be able to specialize through elective courses in areas such as Big Data, business intelligence, cybersecurity, data mining, multi-agent systems, and cloud development.

According to the university’s outlined graduate profile, alumni will be equipped to work across a broad professional landscape, spanning both public and private sectors at national and international levels. Garduño highlighted that graduates will be able to work in different stages of the production process, from crop monitoring and forecasting to the development of technologies for the agroindustry, yielding direct benefits for rural communities. “They will be multidisciplinary professionals, prepared to address the challenges of the agricultural sector through the strategic use of information systems and data analysis,” he stated.

The creation of the program took more than two years of planning and analysis and was developed with the collaboration and support of renowned academic institutions, including the Catholic University of Uruguay, IPN, and the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. These institutions have offered favorable feedback on the program, commending its innovative approach and its potential to transform the agri-food sector.

The launch of this new career aligns with the growing integration of AI in agriculture. As highlighted by FAO, AI plays a pivotal role in accelerating the shift toward digital agriculture. “The true power of AI lies in its ability to detect patterns and relationships that would otherwise go unnoticed, improving efficiency, enabling quicker decision-making, anticipating outcomes, and preventing disease outbreaks,” stated Vincent Martin, Director of the Office for Innovation, FAO.

Another advantage of this technology is its potential to reduce industry costs. Digital Green notes that traditional advisory services could cost around US$30 per farmer, but digital tools have brought that figure down to US$3. With AI, the cost could drop further to just US$0.30 per farmer. “For small-scale farmers, this is about more than just efficiency; it is about transformation,” Martin emphasized.

However, he also cautioned that technology comes with its own set of challenges. Martin stressed the importance of using AI responsibly and ethically, especially to prevent the reinforcement of existing biases or inequalities. “It is not always enough for a solution to work from a technical standpoint. The social context matters. We need to integrate perspectives from the social and behavioral sciences to understand the cultural, economic, or infrastructural barriers to adoption,” he concluded.