United Kingdom
December 3, 2015
It is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to protect produce from pests, weeds and disease as conventional pesticides become unusable due to evolving resistance or changes in the law.
Smartphone app, CROPPROTECT, could be an invaluable resource where effective pesticides are no longer available, offering advice on biological control methods or resistant crop varieties.
Improved access to information about integrated pest, weed and disease management is vital for farmers to mitigate the risk of failing harvests, says CROPPROTECT project coordinator Dr Toby Bruce, of Rothamsted Research.
“We are listening to the needs of the farmers and agronomists,” he said. “We know that they are the experts for their local fields and we are aiming to give decision support not decision-making.”
The app was developed by three crop protection experts from Rothamsted Research to give farmers, agronomists and other industry players to access a free web-based knowledge exchange resource, providing information and recommendations specific to their needs. Users can also give feedback on issues they face on the farm.
The CROPROTECT App is sponsored by the BBSRC-NERC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC).
Dr Bruce, who is the principal investigator on the SARIC research translation grant, said the idea for the app came out of discussions with website users who said they wanted improved accessibility.
He added: “Indeed, the first pest, weed and disease targets have been selected based on number of votes from pioneer users of the system. The information on the system can be rapidly updated and is constantly growing.”
Feedback from users will be used to further develop the tool, built in consultation with the online farming forum AgriChatUK, the AHDB levy board, agronomist organisations Hutchinsons, Agrii and the AICC and the National Farmers Union.
Jodie Mitchell, Knowledge and Innovation Manager for Sustainable Food Production at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), said: “Food security is one of the major issues we face in the coming decades, so supporting efforts to safeguard UK farming from crop failure is an investment in our future. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club supports high-quality research and research translation, providing innovative approaches, tools and technologies to ensure a resilient UK agricultural system.”
Rothamsted Research receives strategic funding from BBSRC, with technical help from Ether Creative.
The app is available from today (December 3) on Android. An iOs version will be available shortly.. Visit the CROPPROTECT website and download at www.croprotect.com
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