The Science, Engineering & Technology Award Shortlist

The Plant Pathology Team and the Knowledge and Information Management Team, Fera

The CropMonitor smart phone ‘app’ provides an innovative way for growers, agronomists, industry professionals and students to access real-time information on seasonal risks of wheat diseases across England. The app accesses data from crop-monitoring sites, links it to meteorological data and then presents an immediate disease risk assessment, based on plant pathology research, to the end user at their location.

The programming of the app and the data transfer systems were completed by the Plant Pathology and Knowledge Information Management teams at the Food and Environment Research Agency working with Farming Online (an industry partner) from concept to delivery in just three months.

The app represents the future of information technology for the farming industry both in the UK and abroad. It is the first-of-a-kind development that pulls information from multiple sources and delivers up-to-date information to wheat growers in a format that they can easily access while out in the field. It helps to support decisions that growers must make with regard to treating and preventing fungal diseases. For agronomists it provides the background information they need to advise on crops under their management wherever they are located.

The app represents the beginning of a shift to where research science, information management and communication infrastructure combine to give the industry the tools it needs while out in the field.