Agrilife24.com: East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT), a nonprofit foundation established by East-West Seed Group, launched a new Pesticide Selection Tool for the Bangladesh vegetable farming community. The country Manager, Mr Mostafa Kamal of East West Seed Bangladesh Private Limited officially launched the tool in a virtual meeting today (3 August).
Vegetable farmers in Bangladesh can encounter challenges in selecting the right pesticide for a pest or disease attack. Once a pesticide is chosen, farmers often apply too much pesticide, making the vegetables harmful to consume, or too little pesticide, leading to increased pest attacks and a loss for the farmer.
EWS-KT brings profitable and sustainable farm practices to smallholder vegetable farmers struggling with poor yields in underdeveloped Asia and Africa. EWS-KT believes in also equipping farmers with additional skills to gain the full benefits of adopting improved production practices and bringing their products to market. In this work, EWS-KT has seen the challenges faced by smallholder vegetable farmers in using the right pesticide for their crops and applying it correctly.
To mitigate these challenges, EWS-KT, in collaboration with Wageningen University and Research, developed a mobile application powered by Open as App. The EWS-KT Pesticide Selection Tool matches common pests and diseases in vegetables with a list of appropriate registered pesticides available in the Bangladesh market. It enables users to identify the pest or disease, choose the right pesticide, and learn about the pesticide through information such as active ingredient, mode of action, and instructions for proper application. The tool is available in English and Bangla, with the ability to filter the pesticide based on the WHO Hazard Class, Highly Hazardous class, and bee toxicity.
The EWS-KT Pesticide Selection Tool can be accessed by farmers on their smartphones by scanning the QR code. It is a user-friendly application that can be helpful to farmers of all age groups. With this application, EWS-KT aims to educate farmers on pesticide application and reduce the misuse of pesticides, ultimately improving farmer productivity and increasing the supply of safe-to-eat vegetables.
Access the App through: https://oaa.app.link/launch-app-b0d7664f-800d-4a20-9319-b9ab7c0a5d24 or scan the QR
