e-Agriculture Newsletter Issue #6, 2018
Focus on the Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) (Online Version)
The Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) is a monitoring and education tool that feeds several platforms that are used to make decisions about Fall Armyworm (FAW). The App was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of the fight against the Fall Armyworm scourge.
Data are inputted via an app for smartphones, which provide exact locations of the source of the information. Data can be collected on FAW prevalence in fields (infested crop plants) or from pheromone traps that attract adult moths. Data collection is done using FAO’s FAW Guidance Notes and is available in five languages. The app also provides basic background information on FAW and will soon incorporate an Artificially Intelligent Assistant who will provide advice in several languages. Data can be transmitted immediately from the field via telephone or can be saved to the phone and uploaded later when a connection is available.
The data goes to a national platform, where National Focal Points review and approve the data. Then the data flows to a global platform, where decision makers can review the data to set priorities and researchers can use the data to better understand the FAW’s ecology in Africa, permitting larger-scale and longer-term decision-making. The application is open to use by all authorized users and the data will be freely available, permitting use by farmers, associations, extensionists, government officials and donors. The data will also be used as the basis of the FAWRisk model, which will examine the risk to food insecurity due to FAW, as well as other models and simulations. Read more
Related news
FAO and Pennyslvania State University launch innovative app to fight fast-spreading pest
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and Pennsylvania State University joined forces to develop and launch an innovative, talking app - Nuru - to help farmers recognize the Fall Armyworm so that they can take immediate steps to destroy it and curb its spread. Read more
Good Practice: A mobile app for monotoring and early detection of Fall Armyworm
This good practice explains the Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS). The document details how the FAMEWS mobile app's data provides valuable insights on how the insect populations change over time with ecology. This tool helps farmers to gather data on the spread of this disease. Read more
Two FAO projects benefit from Belgium's innovation funding
The FAMEWS has caught the attention of the Government of Belgium. FAO reported that the two tools (i) FAMEWS and (iii) the Fall Armyworm Risk-Map are one of the innovative projects awarded funding by the Government of Belgium. FAO was granted two million euros to broaden its fight against Fall Armyworm in Africa and restore agricultural productive activity in Gaza. Read more
Audio-visual content on FAMEWS
- Video: NURU - African Farmers new ally against Fall Armyworm
- Podcast: Artificial intelligence helps tackle agricultural pests
FAO-ITU-AIT Regional Training on the of Drones for Agriculture
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in partnership with the Geoinformatics Centre, Asian Institute of Technology held on the 4th to the 8th of June a training on the use of drones, satellite imagery and GIS in agriculture. This training comes as a follow-up to the FAO-ITU E-agriculture in Action: Drones for Agriculture publication. The publication shared knowledge and experiences in the use of drones in agriculture from various countries and partners.