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

Start date
29 March, 2022
End date
31 March, 2022
Venue
Tunis City, Tunisia

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, experts and extension staff in the United Arab Emirates.

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

  1. Learn about the role of innovation & technology in achieving global food security.
  2. Understand the role of artificial intelligence in crop management and protection from diseases and insects infections.
  3. Learn about the best control of diseases and pests under different farming systems.
  4. Practice the use of a prototype of the application in the field.

Guest of Honor

  • Prof. Dr. Faysal Ben Jeddi , Director General, INAT
  • Prof. Dr. Chedly Abdelly, Director General, ANPR
Organizers

International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Presenter(s)
Dr. Henda Mahmoudi, Plant Physiologist, ICBA, UAE
Prof. Dr. Jose Luis Araus, Plant Physiology, Section of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, UB, Spain
Prof. Dr. Shawn C. Kefauver, Co-Chair IEEE GRSS IDEA Committee, UB, Faculty of Biology, Dept. BEECA, Plant Physiology Section, Spain
Dr. Zied Hammami, Halophyte Agronomist, ICBA, UAE
Dr. Jose Armando Fernández G., Plant Physiology, Section of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, UB, Spain
Partners

Faculty of Biology, Barcelona University (UB), Barcelona, Spain

Event Coordinator
  • Mr. Ghazi Al-Jabri, Capacity Development Specialist, ICBA, UAE
  • Dr. Marwa Hassine, National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT), Tunisia