Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website CIP drone study over sweetpotato fields of East Africa a success
february 05, 2016 - International potato center

CIP drone study over sweetpotato fields of East Africa a success

Press release available only in original language. 

MWANZA, Tanzania — Flying a specially equipped drone, a team of CIP researchers from South America and #africa has successfully used remote-sensing technology to obtain data on orange-fleshed sweetpotato fields in East #africa. The joint study ran for two weeks from late April through early May in Tanzania, where the sweetpotato is increasingly grown by smallholder farmers. Initial image-processing and other analysis of the drone data were completed recently back at CIP-Lima. “The quality of the data taken was great, and discrimination of land uses and the estimation of the area for each use were achieved with high accuracy,” said Roberto Quiroz, project leader at CIP-Lima. The goal of the field study was to validate a low-cost, effective method of monitoring sweetpotato crops.

The study was part of a larger project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to get more detailed information than satellites can give on crops, including accurate production statistics, onset of diseases and pest infestations, and the effects of climate change. Such information is key to combatting hunger and helping smallholder farmers make decisions about what crops to grow and when. Researchers hope the remote-sensing system they are developing will be applicable to other crops eventually, too, throughout the developing world.

The #africa project built on work done in Peru by CIP researchers to combine agricultural and aerial technology. It followed an October 2014 workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, aimed at forming a Community of Practice for UAVs and agricultural remote sensing in sub-Saharan #africa. Although tested in the lab and over experimental fields in Peru, the flights in Tanzania were the first tests under real-world conditions. “After hundreds of test missions in Peru in both experimental stations and farms, we were very sure the drone and the sensors were ready for field missions in East #africa,” Quiroz said. Susan Palacios, an image-processing specialist with CIP-Lima who supervised the drone flights in Tanzania, said the team achieved its proof-of-concept mission. “Our trip was successful, because we tested our knowledge and experiences working in a real field,” Palacios said. “Another important thing is the experience gained. Now we have more information about what it’s like to work in that region and what kind of improvements we need for our acquisition system in software and hardware.” Among other distinguishing features of the project was its “South-South” collaborative nature — involving experts from Latin America and #africa working together to harness a combination of new technologies to benefit smallholder farmers throughout the tropics.


More information in the press release.

Original article from http://cipotato.org/press-room/blogs/cip-drone-study-over-sweetpotato-fields-of-east-africa-a-success/, credit William Allen, credit photos Cipotato