Kenya: University students develop farm pest and disease detection system
In most cases, farmers discover disease and pest infestations too late to save the situation while others apply the wrong intervention.
Based on these challenges, students at the Meru University of Science and Technology have developed an automated pest and disease detector that gives real-time information to the farmer.
The system comprises of raspberry pi cameras that are linked to a computer programme designed capture images of the crops every 15 minutes before they are processed and information is transmitted through a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication unit.
Alex Kimuya, a physics student, James Kariuki, a computer science student and Samuel Ntongai, a technician at the institution say the device identifies crop stress, process the information and notify a farmer through SMS.
He says they have tested the device on a tomato garden where it effectively helped to identify bacterial wilt disease.
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