Exploring a mobile application for pest and disease symptomatic diagnosis in food crops in Nigeria: Implications of its use by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

Crop pests and diseases are major impediments to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Timely and accurate diagnosis of invasive crop pests and diseases promote crop protection efforts. The use of digital mobile application technology and image processing tools for precision agriculture and pest identification and monitoring is gaining attention but limited research has tested its accuracy, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, the accuracy of Plantix - your crop doctor (a general-purpose mobile application for plant pests and diseases diagnosis) was evaluated on common pests and diseases of some staple crops grown in South-Western Nigeria. The results showed 90-100% accuracy of major pest and disease symptoms detected on maize (Zea mays), okra (Abelmoschus esculenthus), cassava (Manihot esculenta), and plantain (Musa paradisiaca), and the application showed 100% accuracy when used to diagnose similar crop types, but that are healthy. However, pest symptoms on Celosia (Celosia argentea), Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.), and Roselle (Hibiscus sabdarifa) were not detected by the mobile application, probably because these crops were not yet included in the database of this application. The exploration of this mobile application can provide technical services for farmers. There is a need to update the database of Plantix with local and indigenous crops in sub-Saharan Africa and develop home-grown mobile applications for disease and pest diagnosis and monitoring.