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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mike Blake/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>By the time a farmer knows their crops are dying, it's often too late. Caterpillars or viruses have preyed on their tomato and spinach plants. And the crops are gone.</p><p>A new robotic system, called <a href="http://prospera.ag/">Prospera</a>, aims to save these plants. Using a network of cameras and sensors, it immediately detects invaders and knows when crops are sick. It then alerts and tells farmers exactly why through an app.</p><p>"<span>The entire agriculture industry itself is due for an evolution," Prospera CEO Daniel Koppel tells Tech Insider. "</span>F<span><span>armers who are accustomed to making decisions based on instinct will be able to look to data, and deliver the </span></span><span><span>freshest produce to the grocery store every harvest."</span></span><span> </span></p><p>The sensors collect hundreds of thousands of data points about plants' health. These include issues with <span><span>pests, diseases, nutrient</span></span><span><span>s</span></span><span><span>, </span></span><span><span>irrigation,</span></span><span><span> and</span></span><span><span> climate.</span></span></p><p>For example, in the photo below, the camera notices that phytophthora (a plant-killing mold) is on the leaves.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Caterpillars and mildew have messed with the chili peppers pictured below.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Prospera's system also monitors and archives facts that affect plants' nutrition, like temperature, pH, CO2, and oxygen.</p><p>Below, the top photo of tomato plants is what the naked eye sees, and the bottom photo is what Prospera's bots see. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p><p class="caption">In the righthand key, " mg" (in red) and "k" (in blue) signify magnesium and potassium deficiencies respectively. "Tuta" (in green) means there's an infestation of tomato leaf miners - highly destructive insects that eat tomato plants.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The cameras monitor the plants 24-7, and when something's wrong, they send photos and sensor data to the cloud. The system then analyzes the data, creates a summary on the app, and pings the farmer. The app also provides real-time data about the plants, even if they're all healthy.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p><p class="caption">A rendering of a Prospera camera.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>To install the system, Prospera just hooks the cameras to poles, and then sticks them in the ground along the farm. Solar panels and Wifi (or 3G data) power the system, which farmers purchase as an annual subscription. Koppel declined to reveal specific pricing.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p><p class="caption">Prospera's cameras hang above the plants.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Using machine learning, Prospera's system can predict when a plant might be at risk depending on the time of year or upcoming weather patterns.</p><p>This also means that the longer the bot's system works on the farm and the more data it collects, the smarter it becomes.</p><p>"<span>This offers the possibility of </span><span>recognizing new strains of diseases before they become widespread," Koppel says.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Prospera</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>Founded in 2014, Prospera now works with some of the largest vegetable growers in the world, including ones that supply to Walmart and the British grocery giant Tesco. It's also expanding to be orchards and vineyards ranging from 50 to 4,000 acres.</p><p>The tools to monitor farms haven't changed much in the past few decades, but Prospera's bots could change that.</p><p>"F<span><span>armers are still missing out on the critical component of </span></span><span><span>seeing</span></span><span><span> and knowing </span></span><em>exactly</em><span><span> what is happening to their crops at all times," Koppel says.</span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-greek-eratosthenes-calculated-earth-circumference-2016-6">This incredibly accurate science experiment was centuries ahead of its time</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="92djVoNDE6Efjmomp7oN1cKWaf4QldXh" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This robot has 'eyes' that can see dying plants before farmers can

<p><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><em><strong>FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.</strong></em></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://smeadcap.com/smead-strategies/smead-blog/entries/2013/04/03/the-road-to-omaha-valuation-matters-dearly/?utm_source=April+3%2C+2013&amp;utm_campaign=April+3%2C+2013+Missive&amp;utm_medium=email">Cheap Stocks Outperform The Stock Market Over Time</a> (Smead Capital)<br /></strong></p>
<p>Buying cheap stocks at the start of the year is a good investment strategy, according to Smead Capital. </p>
<p>"To those investors who agree that valuation matters dearly, we believe there are two choices. The first choice is to buy all 100 of the lowest quintile stocks. The other choice is to have some qualitative screens to find individual securities off of this undistinguished list. Almost every company on the list has warts and/or some newsworthy problem either from exterior circumstances or through self-affliction."<strong></strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="image-container" style="width:580px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://smeadcap.com/smead-strategies/smead-blog/entries/2013/04/03/the-road-to-omaha-valuation-matters-dearly/?utm_source=April+3%2C+2013&amp;utm_campaign=April+3%2C+2013+Missive&amp;utm_medium=email">Smead Capital</a></p></div><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/ag_040313.php"><br />Successful Investors Need To Possess Six Key Traits</a> (Advisor Perspectives)<br /></strong></p>
<p>Kendall Anderson of Anderson Griggs Investments, drawing on former NYU professor Doug Bellemore writes that for investors to be successful, they need to possess six key traits. </p>
<p>1. Patience - Investors need to identify and purchase cheap stocks and wait for five to eight years. 2. Courage - The investor should have the courage to ignore those who disagree with him/her. 3. Intelligence and common sense. 4. Emotional stability -  To not be overwhelmed by emotions on Wall Street and to be able to carve out the facts. 5. Hard work - Do meticulous research. 6."Willingness to sacrifice the investment protection of diversification."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/morganstanley-advisers-idUSL2N0CP0XM20130403"><strong>Two Advisors Leave Morgan Stanley For Prospera</strong></a><strong> (Reuters)</strong></p>
<p>Stephen Shipley and John Rubottom have left Morgan Stanley Wealth Management to join independent Prospera Financial Services. The duo managed $121 million in assets. Morgan Stanley "has lost at least 68 veteran advisers who managed more than $10 billion at the firm," according to Reuters.<strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-internals-breaking-down-2013-4"> </a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-internals-breaking-down-2013-4">We Are Seeing Cracks In The Stock Market</a> (Business Insider)</strong></p>
<p>Stock markets ended the first quarter on a high. But some experts say if you look below the surface, you're already beginning to see cracks. Here are some key signs from Doug Kass: 1. "The Russell 2000 underperformed on Monday (-1.3%) and was down (-0.5%) on an up day on Tuesday." 2. "The advance/decline line is eroding as the market's rise narrows." 3. "The number of new 52-week highs is narrowing." 4. "Transports trailed, down 1.5% and 1.2% on the first two days of the week, respectively -- check out the chart of FedEx (FDX)."</p>
<p>Kass goes on to point out that it is unusual when defensive stocks lead the market during new highs.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-the-bitcoin-bubble-2013-4">We Are Witnessing The Tulip Bubble In Real-Time</a> (Art Cashin)</strong></p>
<p>UBS' Art Cashin thinks the Bitcoin craze is like the Dutch tulip bubble of the 17th century. "It is rare that we get to see a bubble-like phenomenon trade tick for tick in real time.  Usually it's kind of regional aggregate pricing like real estate reports.  But, all that may be changing – before our very eyes – quite literally.  The bubble du jour may be something called a 'Bitcoin'."</p>
<p>Aggressive bidding for Bitcoins has caused prices to double to over $100 in two weeks. "Last night trading turned a bit whacky and the Bitcoin spiked above 145 before plunging in a few trades back to $126," wrote Cashin.  "Just what the world needs – a "safe" currency."<br /><br /></p>

5 Smart Insights For Financial Advisors

<strong>Giftcard Marketplace Zeek Raises $9.5M in Series B </strong><br />
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Tel-Aviv based online gift card marketplace, Zeek, has raised $9.5 million in Series B round of financing led by Scale-Up Venture Capital. The round also saw participation from Blumberg Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, FJ LABS (Fabrice Grinda), Waze founder Uri Levine, Emery Capital, Ton Ventures, Radiant Venture Capital, iAngels and Target Global. Zeek stated that the investment will further be used in growth and expansion overseas.<br />
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Founded by Daniel Zelkind, Ziv Isaiah, Uri Levine, Itay Erel and Pierre Schurmann in 2013, the company works as a mobile app and website that allows users to buy gift cards and vouchers from their favourite brands at a discount and sell unwanted gift vouchers for cash, providing a solution to the estimated $100 billion of unused gift cards globally.<br />
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<strong>Agritech Startup Dealing in Deep Learning Capabilities Secure $7M</strong><br />
<br /> Israeli startup <keyword id="3517788" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prospera">Prospera</keyword>, machine learning agritech company, has raised $7 million in series A round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The round also saw participation from Hishtil and prominent angel investors.<br />
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Founded by Daniel Koppel in 2014, the company creates advanced techniques in data science and deep learning to provide farmers accurate remote agronomy and management solutions.<br />
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<strong><keyword id="36015" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ian">IAN</keyword> Invests in Shared Accommodation Startup Square Plums</strong><br />
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Square Plums, shared accommodation startup, gas closed $446,000 in a round led by Indian Angel Network (IAN), and VGN Prakash, Amitabh Shrivastava, Krishna Jha and Ravindra Krishnappa. As a part of contract, VGN Prakash will be joining the board of the company.<br />
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Founded by Rajesh Kumar Kotta, Hemant Attray and Krishna Jha in 2015, the startup provides fully furnished houses to bachelors, and also helps users to find a roommate. It also helps owners by letting out a fully furnished house with up to 50% higher rentals without even spending on furnishing the house. <br />
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<strong>Mobile Learning Platform Secures $700k of Seed Funding</strong><br />
<br /> Mobile learning platform, <keyword id="3362619" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Byndr">Byndr</keyword>, has raised $700,000 in seed funding from a group of prominent angel investors, Education Design Studio and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.<br />
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Founded by Joseph Freed, Praveen Vangeepuram and Marc Garabedian in 2015, the startup offers mobile-first communication and learning management platform for education in emerging markets, where millions of students only access the internet via their mobile device<br />
 <br />

<b>FundUp: Agritech
Startup Prospera Raises $7M, IAN Invests in Square Plums & More</b>

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ted S. Warren/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Bill and Melinda Gates have been named the most generous philanthropists in the US.</strong></li><li><strong>The philanthropists have donated more than $36 billion to charitable causes, including $4.8 billion last year.</strong></li><li><strong>Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the couple has focused on global health, education, and poverty. </strong></li></ul><p>Bill and Melinda Gates were recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-generous-philanthropists-america-bill-gates-2018-8">named the most generous philanthropists</a> in the United States, based on an <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/America-s-Superrich-Made/242446">annual list by The Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>. </p><p>Annual rankings by The Chronicle of Philanthropy take into account US philanthropists' total donations in the previous year. <span>Of the $4.78 billion that Bill and Melinda Gates donated in 2017, most went to projects run by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.</span></p><p><span>The billionaire couple has been leading in philanthropy for many years.</span></p><p><span>Since its launch in 2000, their foundation has spent more than $36 billion to fund work in global health, emergency relief, education, poverty, and more. <br /></span></p><p><span>The philanthropists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-melinda-gates-malaria-killing-mosquito-2018-6">have pledged about $2 billion</a> to help defeat malaria alone. Their foundation most recently partnered with mosquito engineering company Oxitec to develop a male mosquito that would kill off future generations of malaria-transmitting bugs. The Gates Foundation wants to eliminate malaria "<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Eradicating-Malaria-in-a-Generation">within a generation</a>," tackling a disease that has recently been on a fatal rise after decades of decline.</span></p><p>Bill and Melinda Gates are also working to end Ebola and polio; they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-donates-50-million-to-the-ebola-outbreak-2014-9">donated more than $50 million</a> in 2014 to help fight the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, and they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-gates-foundation-backs-takeda-polio-vaccine-with-38-million-grant-2016-5">pledged $38 million</a> to a Japanese pharmaceutical company that is working on creating a low-cost polio vaccine.</p><p>One of the foundation's most significant partnerships is with the GAVI Alliance, a group of scientists, government leaders, businesses, and philanthropists working to improve access to vaccines in the poorest countries in the world. The Gates Foundation has committed at least $2.5 billion to the GAVI Alliance since 1999.</p><p>Melinda Gates, who helmed the foundation virtually on her own for the first six years of operation, has worked to raise awareness of "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melinda-gates-explains-why-time-poverty-is-one-of-the-biggest-challenges-of-the-modern-era-2016-2?amp">time poverty</a>," the idea that hours of unpaid work like household chores rob women of their potential. Gates wrote in the foundation's <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/2016-Annual-Letter">2016 annual letter</a> that women around the world spend an average of twice as many hours doing unpaid work each day, and girls in many countries fall behind in their education as a result.</p><p>Gates has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-melinda-gates-2016-3">led several other efforts</a> to advance opportunities for women around the world, including the expansion of contraception availability around the world. In a <a href="http://time.com/5087358/melinda-gates-its-time-for-a-new-era-for-women/">Time magazine op-ed</a>, Melinda Gates wrote that she and her husband are also investing in <a href="https://www.mamacash.org/en/en-homepage">Mama Cash</a> - the oldest international women's fund in the world - as well as networks like <a href="http://www.prospera-inwf.org/">Prospera</a>, which supports grassroots women's groups and funds in more than 170 countries. </p><p>Education is at the forefront of the Gates Foundation's giving as well. The <a href="http://gmsp.org/a-gates-millennium-scholars-program/">Gates Millennium Scholars Program</a> was established in 1999 to provide financial support to students of color pursuing undergraduate degrees. Roughly $1.6 billion has gone toward the program, and about 1,000 new scholars are selected each year.</p><p>The Gates Foundation also partnered with the Nigeria-based <a href="https://www.devex.com/organizations/dangote-foundation-8101">Dangote Foundation</a> in 2016 to spend $100 million on <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Where-We-Work/Africa-Office/Focus-Countries/Nigeria">eliminating malnutrition in Nigeria</a>, which is Africa's biggest economy.</p><p>In the foundation's <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/2018-Annual-Letter">2018 annual letter</a>, Bill and Melinda Gates wrote that they believe the world is getting better despite the presence of violence, natural disasters, and political division.</p><p><span>"We don't compare different people's suffering. All suffering is a terrible tragedy. We do, however, assess our ability to help prevent different kinds of suffering," Melinda Gates wrote. "When we studied the global health landscape, we realized that our resources could have a disproportionate impact. We knew we could help save literally millions of lives. So that's what we've tried to do."</span></p><p><span>In 2010, the Gates's tried to inspire philanthropy among other wealthy executives by launching <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-elon-musk-giving-pledge-may-reach-600-billion-2018-7">the Giving Pledge</a>, which encourages billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetime or in their will. <a href="https://www.wealthx.com/report/the-wealth-x-billionaire-census-2018/">A 2018 report from financial research company Wealth-X</a> predicts the pledge may be worth as much as $600 billion by 2022.</span></p><p><span>Last year, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americas-richest-people-wealthiest-billionaires-2017-10">wealthiest Americans</a> donated $14.7 billion to their alma maters, foundations, and various charities, more than doubling how much they gave away in 2016, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2018/02/07/these-50-americans-gave-away-the-most-money-in-2017/#5b5b38bf6a4d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes</a>. The recent list of 25 most generous philanthropists notably did not include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-jeff-bezos-bill-gates-net-worth-2018-7?r=UK&amp;IR=T">richest person in modern history</a>. Bezos <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-richest-person-modern-history-spends-on-charity-2018-7">has been largely quiet</a> about his philanthropic goals, though he <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1007077455146860544">tweeted in June</a> that he intends to announce two areas of focus sometime this summer.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/science-marry-your-cousin-safe-genetics-2018-7">Is marrying your cousin actually dangerous?</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Bill and Melinda Gates were just named the most generous philanthropists in America - here are their biggest projects

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Ammar Awad</span></p><p class="caption">Greenhouses will be the farms of the future.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The agriculture-technology sector is booming.</strong></li><li><strong>Companies are working on everything from apple-picking robots to wearable technology that helps farmers grow produce more efficiently, and meet the demands of a rapidly-increasing global population. </strong></li><li><strong>The way food is grown will be radically transformed in the next few decades. </strong></li></ul><p> </p><p>Feeding the planet's rapidly expanding population is one of the most critical challenges for humanity. </p><p>According to the UN, the world's population is approximately <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/publications/files/key_findings_wpp_2015.pdf">7.3 billion people</a> - and that number is expected to skyrocket to 9.7 billion by 2050. Some researchers expect <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/agec.12089/abstract">global food demand to expand by up to 98%</a> by the middle of this century. And ongoing issues related to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-may-be-15-warmer-than-previously-thought-by-2100-2017-12">rising temperatures</a>, water scarcity, and desertification will <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2153">negatively impact</a> how much food farms are able to grow. </p><p>A number of agricultural technology startups - working on everything from apple-picking robots to augmented reality (AR) systems for greenhouses - are attempting to make food production more efficient and less impactful on the planet. By employing machine learning, drones, and hordes of sensors, these companies hope to radically transform how food is grown. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko</span></p><p class="caption">Machine learning and augmented reality can help grow everything from heirloom tomatoes to specific strains of cannabis more efficiently.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Ag-tech is exploding - and venture capitalists are diving in</h2><p>The sector has exploded in the last few years. According to <a href="https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/vc-investment-in-us-agtech-keeps-growing-datagraphic">Pitchbook</a>, venture capital firms, including heavyweights like GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Monsanto's VC arm, sank more than $1 billion into the industry in 2017, up from $823 million in 2016. Since 2014, VC's have dumped close to $3 billion into the sector, which is becoming increasingly present in the farming world.</p><p>"We're building bridges between Silicon Valley and Central Valley, where California grows most of its food," Seana Day, a partner at <a href="http://betterfoodventures.com/">Better Food Ventures</a>, an ag-tech focused investment firm, told Business Insider. </p><p>One of the industry's most celebrated startups, Plenty - which creates indoor, vertical farms near major cities - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/food-investment-vertical-farming-2017-8">landed a $200 million Series B round</a> led by Softbank. It's the most an ag-tech company has raised to date. </p><h2>From big data...</h2><p>There are a number of startups working on applying big data analytics and machine learning to help farmers grow crops more effectively. </p><p><a href="http://grownetics.co/">Grownetics</a>, a Boulder, Colorado-based startup that recently raised a $1 million seed round, bills itself as the future of agricultural artificial intelligence. The company installs sensors in greenhouses to collect data-points - tracking things like water use, and how quickly plants are growing - to help grow produce more efficiently, Eli Duffy, the CEO of Grownetics, told Business Insider.</p><p><span>"Take a 50,000 square foot greenhouse," Duffy said. "We can help that facility save $2 million per year through energy and water savings, and increase their yield." </span><span></span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.huxley.io/">www.huxley.io</a></span></p><p class="caption">A demo of Huxley's system.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Like Grownetics, Israeli startup Prospera uses artificial intelligence to help farmers understand the data they gather on their crops. </span></p><p><span>The company - which has clients around Europe and the US - is working on deploying its technology on outdoor farms, as well as greenhouses, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/25/agtech-startup-prospera-which-uses-ai-and-computer-vision-to-guide-farmers-harvests-15m/">Techcrunch reports</a>. </span></p><p><span>And <a href="https://www.granular.ag/why-granular/">Granular</a>, which has raised over $24 million to date, uses a software system that collects millions of data points around a farm to help farmers work more efficiently. </span></p><h2><span>To augmented-reality wearables...</span></h2><p>In 2016, Ryan Hooks founded Amsterdam-based startup Huxley to build a hands-free augmented reality system in greenhouses. He created what he calls "plant vision" - think of it as an operating system for a greenhouse. Being hands-free allows farmers to use the technology while they are actually out working with the crops, rather than having to constantly refer to monitors in a back office. </p><p>The system requires cameras and infrared sensors to be placed around a greenhouse or grow facility. Wearable technology like <a href="https://www.vuzix.com/">Vuzix glasses</a> - which are wearable computers - can then provide a farmer with specific information about how plants in a greenhouse are faring, along with recommendations on whether to make adjustments to the water, humidity, or temperature.</p><p>"With Huxley, we can basically get more food with less water," Hooks said. </p><p>While he admits that Huxley is "probably a year-or-two" ahead of the wearables curve, he's hoping to first get the system into the hands of scientists and agronomists who study how greenhouses work, and then scale up from there. </p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol</span></p><p class="caption">Apple-picking is complicated, time-intensive process. Abundant Robotics is trying to make it easier.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h2>To apple-picking robots...</h2><p>A number of companies are working on hardware that does the time-intensive tasks humans used to have to do themselves - everything from planting seeds to watering plants and harvesting crops.</p><p>Crop harvesting often relies on cheap, seasonable labor - the availability of which is expected to decline in the coming decade. <span style="font-weight: 400;">Researchers have pegged the decline of migrant workers in the US <a href="http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/files/2016/IRLE-Where-Did-All-the-Migrant-Farm-Workers-Go.pdf">a</a><a href="http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/files/2016/IRLE-Where-Did-All-the-Migrant-Farm-Workers-Go.pdf">t over 60%</a> since the late 1990s, according to a 2016 study from the Institute for Research and Labor Employment. </span></p><p><a href="https://www.abundantrobotics.com/">Abundant Robotics,</a> which just landed $10 million of funding, is developing the "world's first commercial apple-picking robot," Dan Steere, the company's CEO told Business Insider.</p><p>Steere says the technology, which is akin to a drone with apple picking abilities, is geared towards everything from small apple orchards to large-scale industrial operations.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Migrant labor is declining, so the industry may not be globally viable in a few years without this," Steere said. To the question - which he says he gets a lot - of whether robots will take our jobs, Steere had a practiced answer: "The main lever for increasing the standard of living throughout history has been productivity, and automation."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://about.bluerivertechnology.com/">Blue River Technologies</a>, acquired by John Deere in September, has developed the Lettuce Bot, which automates the process of lettuce-thinning, a complicated and time-intensive task that allows heads of lettuce to grow more effectively. The company has also developed what it calls See and Spray technology, which draws on machine learning to identify crops and weeds and manage the plants' needs. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://ironox.com/about.html">Iron Ox</a>, founded by a former Googler and backed by Y Combinator, has developed greenhouses in California that employ robots to plant seeds, water, and care for each individual plant.</span></p><p>Arama Kukutai and Spencer Maughan, partners at the ag-tech focused VC firm <span>Finistere Ventures, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/outofasia/2018/01/16/how-the-agtech-investment-boom-will-create-a-wave-of-agriculture-unicorns/#5e43428f562b">wrote in Forbes</a> on Wednesday the first "unicorns" in the industry - that is, companies valued at over $1 billion - aren't far off.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With all the attention and capital flowing into the industry, the way we produce our food could be radically transformed in the coming decades. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-monster-mars-rocket-stacks-up-saturn-falcon-nasa-blue-origin-2017-12">SpaceX is about to launch its monster Mars rocket for the first time - here's how it stacks up against other rockets</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "Prospera" and got 5 results

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Ag-tech startups are working on everything from apple-picking robots to machine learning - and they could radically transform how we grow our food

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