Using networks in plant disease diagnosis.

Abstract

Nowadays, hundreds of plant clinics are available for smallholder farmers especially in developing and less-developed countries in order to improve the yield and quality of agricultural products. Several investigations have been carried out to study the role of plant clinics as diagnostics and advisory centres in agricultural extension. However, it seems that there is no comprehensive study demonstrating the role of plant disease diagnosis networks and plant clinics in the development of the farmers' agricultural knowledge. This knowledge can cover a general understanding of integrated nutrient and pest management programmes, principles of agronomy, and simple disease diagnosis methods. In this review paper, the concept of the plant clinic is introduced and then the services which a plant clinic can provide to the farmers are investigated. Criteria for assessing the performance of plant clinics are reviewed to obtain an appropriate and reliable methodology to evaluate the efficiency of these clinics. The characteristics of successful plant diagnosis networks in collaboration with farmers and other entities are presented. Finally, several national and international plant diagnosis networks are introduced and their impact on global agricultural extension is discussed.

Review of plant health clinics: a recent phenomenon for effective plant pests and diseases diagnosis

“…Lack of early pest detection or pest diagnosis may have a negative impact towards a sustainable food production and security (Srivastava, 2013). The introduction of exotic plant pests and diseases has increased over the decade and most smallholder farmers will need accessible plant health clinics for pest and disease diagnosis as well as identification in order to propose best plant pest management strategy for their control (Vakilian, 2017). In other countries such as Uganda, plant health clinics are regarded as an extension approach to assist farmers to detect pests early (Karubanga et al, 2017).…”

Applications of Biotechnology for Characterization of Plants and Pests as the Key Components of Plant Protection and Production Strategies: A Review

“…Thus, a national plant diagnostic network should be put in place (Stack et al, 2006;. A summary of some of the national and international plant disease diagnosis networks is described by Vakilian (2017). BioNet International and ASEANET are some of the networks in biosystematics that involve several counties.…”