Excerpt from the ODBMS blog, published 10 February 2016
When you feel unwell, you visit your doctor in his or her clinic, your symptoms are discussed and a diagnosis is made. Often you will be given a prescription, or simply advised on lifestyle changes to improve your health and well-being. If you are lucky, this service will be provided to you free-of-charge or at low cost because you live in a country with a developed human health system and an integrated medical service.
For smallholder farmers in the developing world, a new service is spreading that provides exactly the same service for their diseased or damaged crops – it’s called Plantwise, and it’s a global initiative led by CABI. Plantwise currently operates in 34 countries in the developing world, through a network of over 1500 Plant clinics, operated by trained Plant Doctors. These clinics are set up in markets and other public places where farmers tend to congregate, so that it’s easy for farmers to get the advice they need.