Performing Department
Plant Pathology & Environmental Microbiology
Non Technical Summary
This project will deliver a state-of-the-art smartphone application in support of the ipmPIPE. The ipmPIPE addresses important components of the National IPM Road Map including: (i) improving cost benefit analyses through the adoption of IPM practices and (ii) reducing potential human health risks and adverse environmental effects from pests and related pest management practices. Extension specialists from many of the states participating in the ipmPIPE have requested the development and deployment of a smartphone application to enable them and designated crop consultants to input observations from the field and receive back products generated from the data. Observations delivered to the ipmPIPE through the smartphone application will include pathogens that cause important diseases of soybean (including rust, frogeye, aerial blight and Cercospora blight), corn (southern rust, Goss's wilt), and wheat (stem, stripe and leaf rusts) as well as potential fungicide-resistant strains or new races of these pathogens. The smartphone application will also contribute to EIPM-CS goals by providing a "push" technology to reach crop consultants and growers with pest decision support information in a real-time framework.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
The development and deployment of a smartphone application for the ipmPIPE project meets the goals of both the EIPM-CS and National IPM Road Map programs. This technological advancement will allow real-time reporting of target pests in the field and timely stakeholder reception of information about the movement and impact of target pests. The specific objective of the proposed project is the development and deployment of a smartphone application to (i) enable qualified users to input observations on pathogens that cause important diseases of soybean (including rust, frogeye, aerial blight and Cercospora blight), corn (southern rust, Goss's wilt), and wheat (stem, stripe and leaf rusts) as well as potential fungicide-resistant strains or new races of these pathogens and (ii) allow stakeholders to view maps, commentary, and other information from the ipmPIPE in a real-time framework.
Project Methods
The smartphone application will be realized in four development steps: design, coding, testing, and deployment. In the first step, the smartphone application will be designed based on experience with similar applications and input provided by Extension specialists, crop consultants, and other cooperators. In the second step, the programming specifications will be passed on to a programmer employed by ZedX, the project subcontractor, for coding on a development server. Once this technician signs off on the first complete, coded version of the application, project participants designated as test end users will be given access to this "beta" version of the application. These end users will provide critical feedback on the design and function of the application in a field setting. Based on their feedback and experience, the smartphone application will undergo a redesign and recoding. A second beta version of the application will be distributed to the test end users. In an iterative cycle, the end users will provide feedback on any final revisions to the application. During this testing and recoding period, online instructional materials will be created for the ipmPIPE community. In the fourth development step, the final version of the smartphone application approved by the test end users, along with its online instructional materials, will be moved to a production server for deployment to the ipmPIPE community. Once resident on a production server and accessible by authorized users of the IT platform, the application will be formally operational. The smartphone application would be used like any other application downloadable from a website. A grower, crop consultant or any authorized user having access to the ipmPIPE can download the application from the IT platform via the Internet. Following online instructions, users of the smartphone application can quickly learn to upload pest observations and download products supporting their IPM decisions. The effectiveness of a smartphone application will be assessed in a number of ways. First, it can be quantified in the number of pest observations transferred from the field to the ipmPIPE and the number of products delivered back to the same users in the field. Second, the application can be assessed by the improvement in the quality of observations (i.e. the elimination of an erroneous observation by comparative analysis with other observations). Third, it can be assessed through the kinds and use of products generated from the submitted observations. For example, Extension commentary would be more timely and accurate with real-time, geographically-referenced pest observations. In another example, industry could better place resistant hybrids or make better recommendations for chemical controls when having access to reliable, widespread observations of the seasonal appearance and movement of pests important to crop production. Lastly, the smartphone application can be evaluated by soliciting feedback from stakeholders using the application. Like any phone application, there would be no shortage of comments on whether an application contributed positively or negatively to their job.