Early pest warnings and IPM advice are improving food security for maize farmers in Ghana
Pest warnings are changing the way that smallholders in Ghana farm. Smallholder maize farmers in Ghana have long grappled with the challenges posed by crop pests. Over the past few years, this has included the notorious fall armyworm. This voracious invader has, in the past, led to significant crop losses. And the losses have impacted…
Teaching an app to help farmers
CABI and the start-up Plantix work together to improve the Plantix farmer app. As a result, the app is now able to detect several diseases for the first time. Worldwide, farmers face huge problems when pests and diseases threaten their crops. The stakes are high and the task to identify precisely the cause of the…
Nigerian farmers embrace technology to combat food insecurity
In Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, food insecurity is on the rise; almost 8 per cent of the population was found to be undernourished in 2015, compared with 6 per cent in 2007, according to the World Bank’s development indicators.
Artificial Intelligence in Africa: Google’s new AI centre in Ghana
Google’s first artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Africa has opened in Accra, Ghana. The tech giant aims to support researchers with the tools and environment necessary to develop AI products to solve numerous problems faced across the continent within the agriculture sector.
PRISE: Kenya Stakeholder Workshop July 2018
Earlier this month, members of the Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE) consortium held a stakeholder workshop in Kenya to update partners, donors and stakeholders on the progress of the project and to discuss future developments over the next four years.
“With the Plantwise Factsheets Library app, I am complete”
In the Kabwe District of Zambia, Adamson Andrew Tembo is the acting senior agricultural officer (SAO) working with the Ministry of Agriculture. He is trained as an agricultural engineer and his role has been as an irrigation engineer. He was transferred to Kabwe District in January 2017 and assumed the role of SAO in July…
Making data digital in Pakistan
By Umair Safdar, Plantwise Pakistan Agriculture is increasingly knowledge-intensive with a continuing need to provide the right information to the people who need it most, making a real difference to their livelihoods. This ensures food security for the ever-growing population by providing the best possible remedies for crop health issues. Globally, rapid adoption of ICT…
Plant Doctors in Vietnam go digital
Plant clinics in Vietnam have received a major boost with the introduction of digital devices to facilitate the work of plant doctors. The use of tablets and smartphones has been proven to help plant doctors improve the quantity and quality of data generated from plant clinic operations. With improved ICTs, the captured data from plant…
Plantwise trials image recognition app Plantix in India
Plantwise and the German-based company PEAT (Progressive Environmental & Agricultural Technologies) are about to conduct an 18-month pilot study to assess the benefits of PEAT’s smartphone app Plantix, which can help to diagnose plant pests, diseases and nutrient deficiencies in the field.
Photo story: e-plant clinics in Sri Lanka
E-plant clinics in Sri Lanka were launched in June 2015. Since then 190 Plant doctors have been trained and equipped with tablets, with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture funding half of the total number of tablets themselves. Being equipped with tablets means Plant doctors give higher quality recommendations, and the data collection process is also…