AI system
- System
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PlantVillage Nuru fall armyworm model (machine learning, offline Android app)
- Model
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Not assessed
- Release
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Not assessed
- Application developer
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Pennsylvania State University (
PlantVillage) with FAO - Role
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Not assessed
- Configuration
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Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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FAO-Penn State collaboration under FAO's five-year fall armyworm program launched October 2017. Android phones able to run the model offline.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
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Only the launch is documented. FAO, which co-developed the app, wrote the release. No independent evaluation of the fall armyworm model or of any alert that changed a farmer's action was found.
- AI contribution
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Not assessed
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
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FAO announced on 25 June 2018 a talking Android app built with PlantVillage to confirm fall armyworm damage offline and feed FAO's FAMEWS; no outcome data in the sources.
- Category
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Improved Knowledge Discovery
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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People. Organizations.
- Beneficiaries
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Not assessed
- Reach
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Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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Yes
- Costs and harms
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Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Results
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Not assessed
- Additional value from AI
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Not assessed
- Limitations
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Not assessed
- Denominators
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Not assessed
- Materials for replication
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Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
-
Not assessed
- Amount
-
Not assessed
- Currency and prices
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Not assessed
- Period and unit
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Not assessed
- Realization
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Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
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Not assessed
- Gross or net
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Not assessed
- Included costs
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
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Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Developer: Pennsylvania State University (
PlantVillage) with FAO. Operator: FAO (Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System, FAMEWS) and farmers and extension workers in sub-Saharan Africa. - Jurisdictions
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Developer:
United States. Operator: 
Italy. - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
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Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
-
Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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Farmers hold the phone next to an infested plant. National focal points validate reports through FAMEWS.
- Replication attempts
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1 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 1.
- Later findings
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9 July 2018. Two weeks after release, PlantVillage reported that Nuru's fall armyworm feature had been used with FAO field offices and farmers in seven African countries.
- Availability
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Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
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Not assessed
- Success criterion
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Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
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AIBD-0192-source-0001–0003
- Citations
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Numbered references below.
- Language
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Not assessed
- Source relationships
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Developer, Independent
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
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Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
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People. Organizations.
- Depth
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Not assessed
- Reasons
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People: No farmer outcome, accuracy figure or adoption figure appears in the sources. Organizations: FAO describes the intended data flow into FAMEWS; no result is reported.
- Observed or intended
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Not assessed
- Rubric
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Not assessed
- Assessor and date
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Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
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Not assessed
- Fill
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Independently reported
Entry details
- Kind
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Not assessed
- Related entries
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Not assessed
- Field
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Agriculture / pest identification. Smallholder maize.
- Purpose
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Confirm fall armyworm damage on maize from a phone held next to the plant, offline, and feed reports into FAO's FAMEWS monitoring system.
- Dates
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Date basis unassessed: 2018 (precision unassessed). Updated: 22 October 2026.
- Stage
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Not assessed
- Version
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SHA-256: 25595a7ca552…
References
- Other identifiers
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Not assessed
- Category mappings
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Not assessed
- Brief
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Not assessed
- Revisions
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6 revisions. Latest: 22 October 2026.
Sources
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News report Independent author
Nuwer R. As Locusts Swarmed East Africa, This Tech Helped Squash Them. The New York Times, 8 April 2021.
He reached out to Dr. Hughes, who had already created a similar mobile tool with the Food and Agriculture Organization to track a devastating crop pest, the fall armyworm
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Press release Developer
FAO. Nuru becomes African farmers' newest ally against Fall Armyworm. FAO news, Rome, 25 June 2018.
Nuru is an app that uses cutting-edge technologies involving machine learning and artificial intelligence. It runs inside a standard Android phone and can work also offline.
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Other Developer
Hughes D. Nuru at 2 weeks. PlantVillage blog, Penn State, 9 July 2018.