28 July 2014 – Following a recent review of its progress, Plantwise can report that 2013 was a very productive year. To show the scale of the growth of its knowledge bank, Plantwise has created an infographic. For more information, visit the Plantwise knowledge bank.
Plantwise is CABI’s food security programme, which helps farmers grow more and lose less of what they produce. The programme’s online knowledge bank – a global resource that helps combat plant health problems – had over 120,000 visits and over 250,000 page views in 2013. With over 15,000 views per month, users are exploring distribution maps, browsing the image-led diagnostic tool, and looking at factsheets on treatment of pests and diseases. Of the views, about one quarter came from Plantwise countries, where use has doubled since 2012.
At the end of 2013, there were more than 7,500 factsheets publicly available on the knowledge bank, with 550 Factsheets for Farmers, 100 Pest Management Decision Guides, 3,400 Technical Factsheets and links to 3,500 External factsheets. The Technical Factsheets included 2,500 pests that affect over 4,000 different agriculturally significant hosts.
Mobile use of the knowledge bank is also progressing well, with over 450 Factsheets for Farmers repurposed and available via tablet or smartphone. This means that plant doctors using the e-clinics pilot initiative have access to factsheet information in real-time as they fill out prescription forms, making diagnoses and recommendations more accurate. Using mobile technology also increases the number of people that Plantwise reaches, especially since the app works with intermittent internet and can be viewed offline.
The Pest Alert service had 545 sign-ups from 200 countries, including 169 contacts from the National Plant Protection Organizations.
At the end of December 2013, plant clinics were regularly collecting data in 14 countries, with over 18,000 records of visits by farmers. Local and national engagement continues to increase in 2014, with current figures in July standing at more than 50,000 records collected from 23 countries.