Crop Diseases Media Analysis

Crop pest and disease outbreaks pose significant threats to global food security by reducing food quantity and quality, leading to potential shortages, price spikes, and hunger. Smallholder farmers in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to these disruptions. To address this challenge, the Food Security Portal, in collaboration with the CGIAR Plant Health Initiative, has developed an real-time media analysis system to monitor the top five prioritized crop pests and diseases.

This system leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, alongside natural language processing techniques to analyze global media articles daily. The system identifies key details, including affected crops, geographic locations, scientific and common names of pests and diseases, and the nature of their impact. By integrating AI-driven text mining and machine learning techniques, the system enhances the accuracy and efficiency of pest and disease monitoring.

Launched in 2023, the system underwent significant upgrades in 2024, incorporating a user-friendly Crop Disease Dashboard. It provides real-time, interactive insights through an interactive world map and a detailed data table. This dashboard allows policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to track emerging threats and make data-driven decisions. The monitoring pipeline is further strengthened through human verification to ensure accuracy, and continuous refinements have improved information extraction and classification.

By providing an early warning system for pest and disease outbreaks, this tool supports proactive interventions, helping mitigate crop damage and safeguarding food security. The initiative, completed in December 2024, underscores the transformative role of AI-driven tools in agricultural health monitoring. The final report is available here.