Tilva allows users to ask questions, upload images, and receive instant support. Image recognition helps identify pests, diseases, and plants, and users can also upload and interpret soil test results from the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory. The tool is primarily designed for agricultural producers (including farmers, agribusiness professionals, and crop and livestock specialists), but is also useful for businesses, educators, policy makers, homeowners, and gardeners.
Thiruva doesn’t just answer questions. Recommend relevant extension workshops, online courses, and certification programs based on your interests. Connect users to verified data sources, including state agencies such as the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and national market data sources. Answers are provided in both English and Spanish.
Jeffrey Hyde, director of Penn State Extension and associate dean of the College of Agriculture, noted that Tilva expands Extension’s capacity by responding to regular inquiries and directing users to existing resources.
“We can also connect users with our experts, extended experts who are always available to answer more detailed or nuanced questions,” he said.
Hyde explained that Tilva enables users to quickly assess the essential elements of a problem or question, allowing augmented professionals to focus on the critical human interactions needed to solve complex problems.
“In 2017, our enhanced website provided a one-stop shop for Extension content and events,” he said. “This tool builds on that foundation, leveraging the same resources to provide answers to customer questions and direct users to specific resources as needed.”
Hyde noted that Tilva is built on Extension’s decades of science-based expertise and Penn State’s AI platform PlantVillage. Developed under the leadership of David Hughes, Dorothy Foehr Huck, and the university’s Global Food Security Professor J. Lloyd Huck, PlantVillage began as a mobile tool to help farmers diagnose crop problems and has grown into a global agricultural AI platform. PlantVillage has supported the United Nations in 65 countries and 35 languages, and is now helping countries like Malawi gain the kind of dissemination knowledge developed with land grants like Penn State.
Prior to its public release, Tilva was tested internally for approximately six months with Penn State’s 29 Extension program teams, members of the Penn State Agriculture Council, a university-managed industry advisory group, and members of the Dean’s Leadership Council, a team that supports the university’s mission across education, research, and Extension. Their feedback helped us improve our responses and ensure accuracy. We’ve answered thousands of questions from users telling us how much they love new tools.
One such consultant was Andy Bater, a fourth-generation farmer, digital engineer, and frequent speaker on the intersection of AI and agriculture.
Mr. Beiter is a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council, a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau State Board, and a past chair of the U.S. Farm Bureau Technical Issues Advisory Committee. Mr. Beiter previously spent 16 years growing switchgrass for biofuel research and mulch production. His current focus is on pollinator habitat and forest conservation.
“This AI tool is fundamental to the future of agriculture,” Bater says. “Specifically designed for industry professionals, it provides accurate answers without cluttering common web searches. Additionally, it provides an essential foundation for future agent AI systems, allowing autonomous tools to validate decisions against authoritative Penn State research before taking action on the farm.”
Justin Clapper, assistant director of development and sponsorship for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and a member of the Pennsylvania Agriculture Council, also tested the tool and asked a variety of agricultural questions across many products and sectors.
“I was surprised at how knowledgeable they were about the system,” he said. “It provided accurate results, resources to research and learn more, and contact information for local extension staff who needed further assistance. I would definitely recommend this new tool to others as a great resource to start your information search.”
What differentiates Tilva from similar platforms is its focus on Pennsylvania-specific content and expanded resources, Hyde said.
“Unlike traditional web searches, which can be biased and include old, unconfirmed sources, Tilva answers prioritize the available and authoritative material to provide more complete, detailed, and Pennsylvania-specific answers,” Hyde said. “We have built in a continuous monitoring and updating process to provide our customers with essential quality control and the best possible content.”
Hughes added: “If a farmer does a Google search, they may find blogs written 10 years ago that are not fact-checked or scientific. We want to avoid spreading misinformation.”
There is human expertise behind each response. This oversight is provided by more than 260 educators at Penn State Extension across 67 counties.
Hughes cited forest resources extension educator Scott Weikert as an example. With decades of experience in forestry, industry, and extension, Weikert brings context and judgment that cannot be replicated with AI alone.
“It would be great if someone like Scott could look at an AI response and explain in nuanced terms why it’s right or wrong,” Hughes said.
This level of scrutiny will determine how the tool is deployed. Mr Hughes said the rollout would be carried out carefully.
“We will proceed with the work carefully,” he said. “If we are confident, the AI will answer. If we are not confident, the AI will stop.”
High-risk topics such as pesticide use, food preservation, and animal dosing trigger safeguards that direct users to county extension educators and other relevant experts such as Penn State professors, veterinarians, and regulatory agencies. The goal is to expand the reach of educators while maintaining close professional oversight. Tilva works 24/7 as a first touch, allowing educators to focus on complex questions and developing new resources.
Dean Troy Ott praised the diligent and stakeholder-focused approach taken to develop and refine Tilva. He emphasized that the focus is on ensuring the quality and relevance of the information provided to stakeholders.
“Thanks to Tilva, our north star from the beginning has been to maintain the more than 100-year-old relationship of trust between the people of the Commonwealth and Pennsylvania Extension,” Ott said.
Hyde said future developments will focus on added value. Local soil and weather data are already powering responses, and additional personalization is likely to follow.
Looking ahead, extension leaders emphasized that Tilva is new and will continue to improve over time, especially since it is built to allow users to provide feedback on the quality of responses. This feedback is monitored and defects are fixed so that Tilva grows smarter over time by partnering with extension experts. In addition to answers in Spanish, future versions will expand the tool’s language capabilities.
For Hughes, the vision is long-term. As climate, disease, economic and market challenges make food production more difficult, land-subsidized universities need to provide reliable knowledge in real time, he noted.
“When we combine human-centered, science-based information with AI solutions, we see a bright future for Tilva,” he said.
Contributing to the project are PlantVillage AI engineers Derek Morr and Pete McCloskey, and entomologist Bipana Paudel Timilsena, assistant professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture.
