The depletion technology is on the horizon as Welsh scientists develop groundbreaking mobile apps to detect fatal potato disease before they attack.
The technology aims to revolutionize potato crop disease detection by providing location-specific predictions in real-time directly to farmers’ smartphones.
The goal is to combat potato blight. This is responsible for 20% of global crop losses and costs the global economy £3.5 billion a year.
Blight caused by the infestan of the pathogen plant sphere is one of the most destructive diseases affecting potatoes, and can wipe out the entire field.
Traditional detection methods rely on visual inspections. This is a labor-intensive, costly, and prone to human error.
Dr. Edore Akpokodje, lecturer in computer science at Aberystwyth University, explained: “Our goal is to empower farmers with tools that are not only scientifically robust, but also practical and easy to use, providing instant, location-specific diseases directly to their phones.
“By integrating farmer feedback from the start, we ensure that this technology is based on real needs and challenges.”
The DeepDeTect project combines cutting-edge machine learning with agriculture expertise, aiming to reduce reliance on preventive spraying. In Wales alone, preventive treatment costs farmers up to £5.27 million each year.
The team hopes the app will make disease management more targeted and sustainable, benefiting both the environment and agriculture resilience.
Potatoes are staple food crops around the world, an important part of Welsh agriculture, and more than 17,000 hectares dedicated to potato agriculture across the country.
Dr. Akpokodje added: “Dealing with the challenges of early diagnosis of potato plant diseases increases farmers’ productivity and reduces costs while supporting more sustainable and targeted disease management.
“By reducing our dependence on pesticides, this approach benefits both the environment and the long-term resilience of the potato industry.
“This technology could potentially allow for wider application across other crops, driving innovation in agricultural practices.”
Dr. Aiswarya Girija of the Institute for Biology, Environment and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University emphasized the global importance of the project.
“Potatoes are the fourth most important staple food crop in the world, and optimal production is essential for the growth of the global population. Therefore, potato blight is not just a matter of agriculture, but a matter of food security.
“As well as threatening the stability of food supply, the speed of potatoes also causes a dependency on production costs and environmentally harmful fungicides.
“The systems we plan to develop will be able to detect early signs of a disease and enable timely, targeted interventions before the disease becomes visible to humans.”
The early stages of this project include a feasibility study funded by the Smart Flexible Innovation Support (SFIS) program in Hovanment, Wales.
This includes market research to assess existing early warning systems and identify what Welsh farmers need most from such technologies.
To kickstart this phase, the Deepdetect team will engage farmers, agriculture scholars and the public at this week’s Royal Wales show via Aberystwyth University Stand.
Following the feasibility study, researchers will construct an AI-driven prototype using image datasets of both healthy and infected potato leaves.
This is followed by focus groups and workshops with farmers to ensure that the app is user-friendly and effective.
The long-term ambition is to create a full-scale national early warning system for potato blight, allowing the technology to be adapted to other crops and regions.
