Indian farmers incur an annual loss of Rs. 90,000 crores (US$1.2 billion) due to pests and diseases, which destroy the standing crops in the field.

The Department of Research & Development of Chandigarh University, India, has developed an Artificial Intelligence based Mobile Application which detects crop diseases at an early stage of the farming cycle. This enables the farmers to take protective actions before the disease spreads to healthy crops. (CISION PR NEWSWIRE)

How it works

The AI-based Mobile App was six months in development and was funded by the Department of Research of the University.

The app works with image processing that matches the images of the current crop with a database of images of the same type of crop in a diseased condition. In particular, it flags any significant change in the leaves, stems or branches that identify the stage of the disease or extent of damage wrought by insects.

The app also gives suggestions for the treatment of the crop.

The app will detect 39 diseases in two crops, but once ongoing studies are completed, its capabilities will extend to a further 19 crops.

The inventor and project scientist of Chandigarh University, Amit Verma said, “The diseases like cut worms, potato tuber moth are common in potatoes. Early and Late Blight in Tomatoes severely damage the crop. To overcome from these and many other diseases, this detecting application can be used to identify and detect the illness in these crops in order to increase agricultural production.”

“Chandigarh University has formed a special research group to carry advanced projects in the field of Agriculture and in last three years, the research group has filed 31 patents in the field of Farming and Agriculture, which will be launched soon in the market that will help Indian farmers to overcome their numerous problems,” said Prof. Sanjeet Singh, Chandigarh University’s Dean Research.

Related Story: Now AI To Combat The Menace Of Spray Drift