App to help in protecting cashew crop now have Odia language

BHUBANESWAR: An artificial intelligence (AI) based website and app has been created for identification of pests, diseases and nutrient deficiencies in cashew crop. Now the app is available in Odia language for better understanding of Odia people especially farmers.
All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on cashew, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) Bhubaneswar, is a part of this initiative. Odisha farmers can also be benefited by using this app after inclusion of Odia language. It is published in 11 regional languages, according to official sources.
“ICAR- Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, Karnataka, has developed this. OUAT includes Odia commands for easy understanding of Odisha people especially farmers,” said Kabitha Sethi, junior horticulturist, AICRP on Cashew, Bhubaneswar.
She said people need expert advice for controlling pests and diseases along with identifying nutrient deficiencies in cashew crops. However, advice is not easily available in rural and remote areas. This mobile app will help the farmers, she added.
In the longer run, the website/app will help in diagnosing about 60 cashew pests, 20 diseases and 10 nutrient deficiencies instantly from the uploaded images. But in the first phase of the work, it can detect six pests and one disease, said the official sources.
AI and computer vision-based techniques have been used in the app/website. There are options available for contacting experts and sharing photos in social media in case of no detection or dissatisfactory results.
“This will eventually help in early forecasting of these problems and alert farmers in a particular region in time. Further, it also helps to channelize efforts and inputs required for management by the concerned agencies in an area/region of the country,” said the statement of developers of the app.
Apart from ICAR- Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, scientists of AICRP- Cashew centers across the country were involved in this.