Developing a user-friendly application for smallholder farmers for detection of plant disorders

Annual crop losses due to pests and diseases range between 20% and 40%, undermining rural livelihoods, national economies, and food security. Intelligent systems can help farmers make prompt in-situ diagnoses and facilitate effective response to plant diseases and pest attacks in their early stages.

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), in partnership with the University of Barcelona (UB), are developing a user-friendly application for smartphones that smallholder farmers can use to identify and address diseases and nutritional disorders in their crops, and thus minimize losses in their yields. The project targets farmers in four countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region where ICBA has ongoing projects, including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Subsequently, the application will be rolled out in other countries where ICBA operates and beyond.

This training workshop will give insights and hands-on training on the application targeting farmers and extension staff in Tunisia.

Targeted participants include extension officers from local research and extension institutes, academia and pioneer farmers in Tunisia.

By the end of the training workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Learn the principals of agri-preneurship for food security.
2. Understand the role of artificial Intelligence in crop management and protection from diseases and insects infections.
3. Differentiate between data management protocols.
4. Practice the smart application in the field.