conditions. These are then used to refine the
data collected by sensors on the ground. It’s
precise data collection without the thousand-
dollar price tag.
To transmit this data, FarmBeats is
experimenting with using TV white space
(unused spectrum between stations) instead
of Wi-Fi, an option which is both cheap and
abundant in developing regions.
Once this data has been gathered, it is
important to make sure it is available to small
farmers in an open and democratic way.
Programs like the CGIAR Platform for Big
Data in Agriculture, which leverages the work
and financing of multiple partners including
the World Bank, have been set up to make
datasets created by these innovative methods
freely available to all.
In Kenya, for example, where no robust
data on the state of water resources in the
Sondu-Miriu River basin exists, researchers
have tested an approach to crowdsource it
from citizens. Three water-level gauges were
erected with signs that explained the project
and asked passers-by to send measurements
from the gauges through text messages. The
data they received was cross-checked with
much more expensive automatic gauging
stations nearby and was found to be highly
accurate.
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
Elsewhere in Africa, free AI-powered apps
are helping farmers detect pest and disease
outbreaks in cassava. The app known as
Nuru was designed by Penn State University
in collaboration with CGIAR and Google using
TensorFlow, an open source software for
object recognition. It was crafted by taking
11,670 photos to create 2,756 images of
leaves. After experts diagnosed the diseases,
the photos were organized into a database
which was used to train the software using
machine learning to recognize the symptoms
of cassava pests and diseases. The app is
user-friendly, and farmers or extension
agents simply point their smartphone
camera at several cassava leaves and Nuru
responds with a diagnosis. It can also be used
offline, which is important in remote farm
communities.
Datasets that will inform the future of farming
and protect food supplies into the future are
growing. If they can be made available to all
types of farmers, from large to small, rich
and poor, we can catalyse an information
revolution that will transform our global food
system for the better.
Juergen Voegele is Senior Director of the Food
and Agriculture Global Practice at the World
Bank and Chair of the CGIAR System Council.
This post first appeared on AgriPulse.
NOVEMBER 29, 2018 https://www.ifpri.org/
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