INCREASING YIELD. To help farmers increase their yield, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute is currently developing AI-enabled robots that could detect plant diseases. Initial target users are banana plantations. (File photo) MANILA The Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) is currently developing a robot that could detect plant diseases, thereby helping farmers to increase yield, its top official said Monday. Using artificial intelligence (AI), the robot will be placed initially in a banana plantation to identify disease afflicted plants even at the early onset, ASTI Director Franz de Leon told the Philippine News Agency in an interview. "The current practice in plantations is that they are labor and time intensive. If there is not enough manpower, it may be too late to detect and address plant diseases that have developed. This can result in reduced yields, and ultimately, profit for the farmers," he said. This ROAMER (Robot for Optimized and Autonomo