The role of passive surveillance and citizen science in plant health

The early detection of plant pests and diseases is vital to the success of any eradication or control programme, but the resources for surveillance are often limited. Plant health authorities can however make use of observations from individuals and stakeholder groups who are monitoring for signs of ill health. Volunteered data is most often discussed in relation to citizen science groups, however these groups are only part of a wider network of professional agents, land-users and owners who can all contribute to significantly increase surveillance efforts through “passive surveillance”. These ad-hoc reports represent chance observations by individuals who may not necessarily be looking for signs of pests and diseases when they are discovered. Passive surveillance contributes vital observations in support of national and international surveillance programs, detecting potentially unknown issues in the wider landscape, beyond points of entry and the plant trade. This review sets out to describe various forms of passive surveillance, identify analytical methods that can be applied to these “messy” unstructured data, and indicate how new programs can be established and maintained. Case studies discuss two tree health projects from Great Britain (TreeAlert and Observatree) to illustrate the challenges and successes of existing passive surveillance programmes. When analysing passive surveillance reports it is important to understand the observers’ probability to detect and report each plant health issue, which will vary depending on how distinctive the symptoms are and the experience of the observer. It is also vital to assess how representative the reports are and whether they occur more frequently in certain locations. Methods are increasingly available to predict species distributions from large datasets, but more work is needed to understand how these apply to rare events such as new introductions. One solution for general surveillance is to develop and maintain a network of tree health volunteers, but this requires a large investment in training, feedback and engagement to maintain motivation. There are already many working examples of passive surveillance programmes and the suite of options to interpret the resulting datasets is growing rapidly

Modelling cassava production and pest management under biotic and abiotic constraints.

We summarise modelling studies of the most economically important cassava diseases and arthropods, highlighting research gaps where modelling can contribute to the better management of these in the areas of surveillance, control, and host-pest dynamics understanding the effects of climate change and future challenges in modelling. For over 30 years, experimental and theoretical studies have sought to better understand the epidemiology of cassava diseases and arthropods that affect production and lead to considerable yield loss, to detect and control them more effectively. In this review, we consider the contribution of modelling studies to that understanding. We summarise studies of the most economically important cassava pests, including cassava mosaic disease, cassava brown streak disease, the cassava mealybug, and the cassava green mite. We focus on conceptual models of system dynamics rather than statistical methods. Through our analysis we identified areas where modelling has contributed and areas where modelling can improve and further contribute. Firstly, we identify research challenges in the modelling developed for the surveillance, detection and control of cassava pests, and propose approaches to overcome these. We then look at the contributions that modelling has accomplished in the understanding of the interaction and dynamics of cassava and its' pests, highlighting success stories and areas where improvement is needed. Thirdly, we look at the possibility that novel modelling applications can achieve to provide insights into the impacts and uncertainties of climate change. Finally, we identify research gaps, challenges, and opportunities where modelling can develop and contribute for the management of cassava pests, highlighting the recent advances in understanding molecular mechanisms of plant defence

On Enabling Mobile Crowd Sensing for Data Collection in Smart Agriculture

Smart agriculture enables the efficiency and intelligence of production in physical farm management. Though promising, due to the limitation of the existing data collection methods, it still encounters few challenges that are required to be considered. Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) embeds three beneficial characteristics: a) cost-effectiveness, b) scalability, and c) mobility and robustness. With the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming a reality, the smart phones are widely becoming available even in remote areas. Hence, both the MCSs characteristics and the plug and play widely available infrastructure provides huge opportunities for the MCS-enabled smart agriculture.opening up several new opportunities at the application level. In this paper, we extensively evaluate the Agriculture Mobile Crowd Sensing (AMCS) and provide insights for agricultural data collection schemes. In addition, we provide a comparative study with the existing agriculture data collection solutions and conclude that AMCS has significant benefits in terms of flexibility, collecting implicit data, and low cost requirements. However, we note that AMCSs may still posses limitations in regard to data integrity and quality to be considered as a future work. To this end, we perform a detailed analysis of the challenges and opportunities that concerns the MCS-enabled agriculture by putting forward six potential applications of AMCS-enabled agriculture. Finally, we propose future research and focus on agricultural characteristics, e.g., seasonality and regionality

Tapping the full potential of the digital revolution for agricultural extension: an emerging innovation agenda

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Root, Tuber and Banana Food System Innovations

This open access book describes recent innovations in food systems based on root, tuber and banana crops in developing countries. These innovations respond to many of the challenges facing these vital crops, linked to their vegetative seed and bulky and perishable produce. The innovations create value, food, jobs and new sources of income while improving the wellbeing and quality of life of their users. Women are often key players in the production, processing and marketing of roots, tubers and bananas, so successful innovation needs to consider gender. These crops and their value chains have long been neglected by research and development, hence this book contributes to filling in the gap. The book features many outcomes of the CGIAR Research Program in Roots, Tubers and Banana (RTB), which operated from 2012-21, encompassing many tropical countries, academic and industry partners, multiple crops, and major initiatives. It describes the successful innovation model developed by RTB that brings together diverse partners and organizations, to create value for the end users and to generate positive economic and social outcomes. RTB has accelerated the scaling of innovations to reach many end users cost effectively. Though most of the book’s examples and insights are from Africa, they can be applied worldwide. The book will be useful for decision makers designing policies to scale up agricultural solutions, for researchers and extension specialists seeking practical ideas, and for scholars of innovation

Root, Tuber and Banana Food System Innovations

This open access book describes recent innovations in food systems based on root, tuber and banana crops in developing countries. These innovations respond to many of the challenges facing these vital crops, linked to their vegetative seed and bulky and perishable produce. The innovations create value, food, jobs and new sources of income while improving the wellbeing and quality of life of their users. Women are often key players in the production, processing and marketing of roots, tubers and bananas, so successful innovation needs to consider gender. These crops and their value chains have long been neglected by research and development, hence this book contributes to filling in the gap. The book features many outcomes of the CGIAR Research Program in Roots, Tubers and Banana (RTB), which operated from 2012-21, encompassing many tropical countries, academic and industry partners, multiple crops, and major initiatives. It describes the successful innovation model developed by RTB that brings together diverse partners and organizations, to create value for the end users and to generate positive economic and social outcomes. RTB has accelerated the scaling of innovations to reach many end users cost effectively. Though most of the book’s examples and insights are from Africa, they can be applied worldwide. The book will be useful for decision makers designing policies to scale up agricultural solutions, for researchers and extension specialists seeking practical ideas, and for scholars of innovation

Transforming Agriculture in Southern Africa

This book provides a synthesis of the key issues and challenges facing agriculture and food production in Southern Africa. Southern Africa is facing numerous challenges from diverse issues such as agricultural transformations, growing populations, urbanization and climate change. These challenges place great pressure on food security, agriculture, water availability and other natural resources, as well as impacting biodiversity. Drawing on case studies from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the chapters in this book consider these challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective, covering key areas in constraints to production, the most important building blocks of good farming practices, and established and emerging technologies. This book will be a valuable support for informing new policies and processes aimed at improving food production and security and developing sustainable agriculture in Southern Africa. This informative volume will be key reading for those interested in agricultural science, African studies, rural studies, development studies and sustainability. It will also be a valuable resource for policymakers, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and agricultural practitioners