Digital platform provides data on tropical fruit pests

Embrapa Cassava and Fruits (BA) has created a platform that gathers information about pests that affect the cultivation of seven tropical fruit trees - citrus, banana, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, mango and coconut. Designed in the form of an API (Application Programming Interface), the AgroPragas Platform allows the integration of this set of scientific data with different systems and services. Embrapa is now seeking partners in the information technology area interested in co-developing the digital tool, so that it can be made available to researchers, the scientific community, students and companies that develop software and other solutions for agribusiness. The ultimate goal is to ensure that information about ways to control these pests reaches producers and rural extension technicians in a practical and direct manner.

The AgroPragas Platform is one of the technological assets for co-development included in the recently launched call for proposals for the Open Innovation Program in Fruit Farming (InovaFrut). The purpose is to invite companies, cooperatives, associations and other agents in the production sector to develop technological solutions, in partnership with Embrapa, through the open innovation mechanisms provided for in the Regulatory Framework for Science, Technology and Innovation (CT&I). Applications are open until September 20 (see more details in the table at the end of this article).

Agronomic intelligence associated with the Embrapa brand

The digital tool encompasses four products: the centralized knowledge base, i.e., a database for each crop; the web software for managing pest information aimed at the team of experts who feed the database; the API platform for making data available as services, aimed at the scientific community, startups and partner companies; and, finally, the mobile application for presenting pest characteristics, aimed at producers, agronomists and agricultural technicians.

"The biggest advantages are the agronomic intelligence that this platform brings built-in, the guarantee of the Embrapa brand in the data that is made available there and the fact that the data, in addition to being reliable, is always up to date. Rapid diagnosis of the presence of pests is essential to guarantee food safety and prevent their spread, which can cause large-scale losses to production", says researcher Gilmar Santos, leader of the project that resulted in the Platform. Ten scholarship holders participated in the development of the tool, under the guidance of analysts from the Information Technology Center of Embrapa Cassava and Fruits, Murilo Crespo, Luciano Pontes and Roberta Nascimento.

The idea for this platform came about with the success of the mobile application focused exclusively on passion fruit cultivation, AgroPragas Maracujá, launched in 2019.

"From then on, there was a considerable demand for applications for other fruit crops. We realized that we would not be able to provide an application for each crop, also due to issues related to maintenance and monitoring of constant updates to mobile operating systems," says Crespo. "So, we changed our strategy. Instead of providing applications, we decided to create a platform, through programming libraries, the so-called APIs, so that any external partner - startup, university or software developer - can consume this data and create their own applications," he adds.

Today, the AgroPragas Platform, in the development stage, Beta test, that is, a functional prototype, is being applied to assist researchers and students in their work. According to the analyst, the intention is to migrate it to AgroAPI, Embrapa's unified API platform, in the future. AgroAPI, aimed at the digital agriculture technology market, offers agricultural information and models generated by the research institution.

How it works

The researchers responsible for each crop are trained to manage pest information through a web interface, which is automatically provided as services on the platform. The standardized knowledge bases on common and specific characteristics of each crop form the database, the project's first product. The second product is the software used by the researchers to input the data.

According to Crespo, another advantage of the system is that it is scalable, meaning that it does not require new coding, allowing any crop to be included at any time. "If a team involved in research into cashew, guava or melon, for example, decides to participate, all they need to do is organize the data on crop pests and enter it into the platform." Scientists from three Embrapa units currently feed the platform: Embrapa Cassava and Fruit Farming, for information on pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, banana and citrus; Embrapa Coastal Tablelands (SE), for coconut; and Embrapa Semiarid (PE), for mango.

The third product of the project consists of the platform itself, aimed at developers, companies and startups in the IT area that will consume the data for a web application or mobile device, so that the content reaches the technician and the rural producer. The platform provides information on each crop and by pest category, factors that favor the occurrence of the problem and the forms of control for each of the pests or diseases.

Gilmar Santos adds that the continuous and dynamic way of feeding is another of the main advantages of the tool. "Every day, new information about pests emerges or there are changes in the characteristics of one of them. And, when we increase the number of crops, this knowledge becomes exponential. Another attribute of the database is the information about the presence or absence of the pest, whether it is quarantine absent or quarantine present”. In the first case – quarantine absent –, the pest exists outside the country and has not yet been identified in Brazilian territory. An example is race 4 of Fusarium, a fungus that attacks banana crops. In the case of quarantine present, the pest occurs in Brazil, but is restricted to certain regions. This is the case of HLB [huanglongbing or greening], citrus disease.

As a way of testing the applicability of the tool, a multicultural mobile application was created. This application is a way of using the platform, a demonstration of how it can be explored. "But creating applications is not our focus. We created this one with the intention of showing the potential of the tool", reiterates Crespo.

University students use and validate the platform

The AgroPragas Platform is already being used free of charge by professors and students of the Software Engineering discipline of the Computer Engineering course at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB). “Our goal is to develop new software products, based on the potential offered by the platform. Students are challenged to participate in the process of building innovative software aimed at crops such as passion fruit, citrus, etc. The initiative of the AgroPragas product in API format is an important step towards building an open innovation ecosystem, as it technically allows new solutions to be offered based on the platform”, says professor Tassio Ferreira Valle.

He reports that new ways of interacting with information are being designed, in addition to the smartphone app already created. “For example, we are studying the possibilities of evaluating images provided by users to identify pests, as made available by the platform,” he says. He adds: “the project has the students as the main players. They are responsible for the process of building solutions based on the AgroPragas platform, from start to finish. Therefore, I would say that they are the ones who use the information and consume data the most to deliver their own projects.”

Gilmar Santos states that the use of the platform by UFRB students and professors is an experience of validating the technology. “They are consuming the data for free. It is an excellent thing for us. In addition to using the information in their projects, they are testing the tool’s functionalities,” the researcher emphasizes.

"We are looking for an external partner, via the InovaFrut public notice, to build the business model, which will define how commercial exploration will be carried out by companies and startups, for example, with limitations on data consumption, control over the number of requests and a specific time of use", says Santos.

How to participate in InovaFrut

“Open innovation” is considered to be the introduction of novelty or improvement, in the productive and/or social environment, of creations obtained, generated and/or developed in partnership with other institutions, in order to improve the development of products and processes, provide better services for society, increase efficiency and added value.

"The launch of the InovaFrut call for proposals demonstrates that Embrapa Cassava and Fruit is seeking partners from the production sector to jointly provide solutions to the main problems in the fruit production chains. And to co-develop assets generated by our research teams that are already at an advanced stage of technological maturity", explains researcher Eduardo Chumbinho de Andrade, deputy head of Research, Development & Innovation at the research center.

Proposals must be submitted in two main subjects: ten open themes in fruit growing (more specifically pineapple, banana, citrus, papaya and passion fruit) and co-development of Embrapa assets selected according to their potential reach, relevance and impact.

To access the notice, simply click on this address. Proposals must be submitted exclusively by filling out the electronic form, available here.

Ally with the SDGs

The AgroPragas Platform is aligned with Embrapa's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global agenda adopted during the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development in 2015 with the mission of building and implementing public policies that aim to guide humanity until 2030 (Agenda 2030).

It meets Goal Number 2 - “Zero Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture” -, which consists of eradicating hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

In 2017, the Embrapa SDG Network was created, whose objective is to manage distributed intelligence in research units and respond to demands regarding the 2030 Agenda.