An Outlook Into Plant Illnesses: System of Potato Disease

Grapes, olives, and figs are just some of the rich agricultural produce of Palestine. Agriculture is also one of the largest sectors from an economical standpoint, generating roughly 3% of Palestinian Gross Domestic Product in the year 2019 (1).  However, with the rise of Israeli restrictions on water recourses and lack of access to agricultural lands, agriculture is predicted to contribute less to the national GDP in the future. Moreover, Palestinian agriculture is not free from the potential effect of disease and the overall cost of certain pesticides and other plant medications has impacted small-scale farmers.

Laith Sabehat, a botanist, stressed the importance of agricultural plant disease prevention and the positive outcome of early detection. Together with his teammate Mohammad Jaradat (an IT specialist), they thought of a potential startup that could aid in detecting certain diseases on plant leaves. They started with a focus on the plant disease Late Blight for potatoes, which leads to plant necrosis and is highly contagious. “We wanted to focus on a disease that has high morbidity rates in the Palestinian and international context”, stated Laith.

Agritech definitely entails data-driven technology and creates a means for overall sustainable development and growth. Thus, while undertaking the Data Science Journey, Laith and Mohammad were able to implement what they learned to form a prototype for this project.  They focused on the use of machine learning to develop an algorithm that can help detect the disease with high accuracy. “The idea behind this project is to help farmers with detecting plant diseases early on. This will allow for the proper management of pesticides and reduce the risk of financial loss. Simply, by the use of a mobile application, the farmer can take a photo and get a predication right on the spot. “, they explained.

Currently, they are both working on the next stage of this startup and wish to expand in the future the range of diseases to the major Palestinian fruits such as olives, figs, and grapes.

1. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics-State of Palestine. Press Report Preliminary Estimates of Quarterly National Accounts (Second Quarter 2019). 2019.