Walmart is taking a significant step towards revolutionizing its agricultural supply chain with the deployment of an AI-driven platform from Cropin, a leading food-and-agriculture technology provider. Announced on Friday, this partnership aims to enhance scalable sourcing solutions across Walmart’s U.S. and South American markets, marking a pivotal moment in the retail giant’s commitment to leveraging technology for agricultural innovation.
Cropin’s AI platform is designed to improve yield forecasting, monitor crop health, and predict seasonal transitions with unprecedented accuracy. By integrating this technology, Walmart aims to mitigate risks associated with weather variability, market volatility, and supply chain disruptions. The ultimate goal is to ensure enhanced product availability and quality while reducing waste, a critical factor in today’s increasingly conscious consumer market.
This custom-built AI deployment is a first of its kind, according to Cropin. The platform’s automated tools provide localized insights into crop health, pest outbreaks, and extreme weather risks, making supply chains more climate resilient. Additionally, it features a sustainability impact dashboard that tracks greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and deforestation impact, aligning with Walmart’s broader sustainability initiatives.
Cropin’s extensive digital database, compiled from farmers worldwide, includes a “crop knowledge graph” with detailed information about 350 crops and 10,000 varieties across 103 countries. This vast repository of data is used to provide predictive intelligence for over 200 million acres of farmland globally, underscoring the scale and potential impact of this partnership.
The implications of this collaboration are far-reaching. A 2020 report from McKinsey & Co. predicted that digitally connected agriculture could add $500 billion to the global gross domestic product by 2030. This connectivity is crucial for supporting growing crop demand amid dwindling production acreage, climate change impacts, and other challenges. Walmart’s move aligns with this vision, emphasizing the need for a digital transformation in agriculture.
This partnership is the latest in a series of AI investments by Walmart. Previously, the company has used AI and computer vision to speed up the checkout process and reduce retail theft. Walmart has also unveiled plans to scale AI, augmented reality, and immersive commerce experiences for its customers, demonstrating a broader commitment to technological innovation.
Kyle Carlyle, VP of sourcing innovation and surety of supply at Walmart, highlighted the strategic importance of this partnership. “We are always looking for new ways to innovate, and Cropin demonstrates our bold innovation goals in the agriculture space,” Carlyle said. This statement underscores Walmart’s proactive approach to leveraging technology for operational efficiency and sustainability in its supply chain.
