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

Start date
6 October, 2020
End date
7 October, 2020
Venue

Zoom Platform

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 will initially target 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 on the application and will enable partners in the MENA to understand its functionality and their role in collecting data from the fields.

Organizers

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

Presenter(s)
Dr. Henda Mahmoudi, Plant Physiologist, ICBA, Dubai , UAE.
Prof. Dr. Jose Luis Araus, Plant Physiology, Section of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain
Prof. Dr. Shawn C. Kefauver, Co-Chair IEEE GRSS IDEA Committee, University of Barcelona, Faculty of Biology, Dept. BEECA, Plant Physiology Section, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Jose Armando Fernández G., Plant Physiology, Section of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Ma. Luisa Buchaillot, Plant Physiology, Section of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Partners

Faculty of Biology, Barcelona University, Barcelona, Spain

Event Coordinator

Mr. Ghazi Al-Jabri, Capacity Development Specialist, ICBA, Dubai, UAE