By Almira Louise S. Martinez, ReporterA MINDANAO-BASED agricultural technology startup is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help farmers assess soil conditions and reduce unnecessary fertilizer use as the country braces for a potentially severe El Niño. “Carelessly throwing fertilizers is not effective during El Niño,” Ms. Daquioag told BusinessWorld in Filipino via Zoom. In one farm assessed during an El Niño period, a farmer had been applying fertilizer every 10 days. The Department of Agriculture has warned that the weather phenomenon could reduce agricultural output by about 20% to 30%. GreenVisionsPh’s AI-driven farm management module is designed to function as a diagnostic tool for farms, providing data on soil conditions and crop diseases.