Planthead Platform

Task 3.1 aims at implementing a remote PLANT HEAlth Diagnostic (PLANTHEAD) Network in Africa to promote real-time diagnosis and environment-friendly crop protection approaches in resource-constrained environments lacking the organizational and/or the sociotechnical system resources to cope with food insecurity issues. The proposed scheme involves an authenticated Service User (SU), who inserts the request information through a mobile phone, takes a georeferenced picture of the symptoms, submits the request to the Hub and in the meanwhile to the District Service (DS, or “First Node”). The DS validates the request, inserts further notes/attachments, provides initial feedback, and if needed submits the request to the National Centre (NC, or “Second Node”, e.g., the main Universities or Research Centers). The National Center analyses the request, monitors the environmental situation, validates the request, and inserts further notes/attachments, providing additional feedback and, if needed, submits the request to the Service Provider (or “Third Node”, represented by a collaborative Network of universities and research institutions with renowned expertise in plant health, epidemiology, plant disease, and pest control). The Node analyses the problem, provides a diagnosis and control feedback, sends an initial solution to the National Centres (and through them, to the District Services and back to the Service User), shares the results that will update a knowledge base for intelligence services (AI-Machine Learning). ​​