Mobile technologies assist plant biosecurity management

VANMEURSA — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:40:17 +0000

In northern Australia and Indonesia, developing robust approaches to the community management of biosecurity includes making meaningful connections from government to small crop farmers and local communities across long distances. Clearly these connections are dependent on effective communication that values and links local knowledge, industry practice, scientific developments and policy directions. The rapid adoption of mobile technologies across urban, regional and remote communities worldwide has the potential to provide a communication network for previously isolated people around issues of common concern.

As mobile technology is integrated more and more into daily life, people’s expectations of their capacity to be available, and fully functioning increases (or tolerance of being non-functionality deceases). Mobile technologies are being integrated into social and cultural practices of a range of societies. Mobile technologies include digital media in common use such as digital cameras, audio recorders, mobile telephones, personal media devices (such as iPods), laptop computers, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging wireless modems, and through sharing audio, visual and text files. Mobile learning utilises these devices to support learning experiences. These core platforms are often enhanced by location-sensing functionality such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), video, audio and image capture and playback functionality. Mobile learning also includes digital cameras and using devices (such as PDAs) to improve data entry functionality.

Mobile technologies are being used to improve plant biosecurity management by Indigenous rangers in remote communities. The rangers include the Thamarrurr rangers from Wadeye, the Yirralka rangers from the Laynhapuy Homelands. Indigenous rangers involved in the CRCNPB project are using digital cameras, laptops and headsets to record their knowledge and skills related to surveillance and management of plant biosecurity incursions. These are being used to develop training materials that use local language, contexts and people to demonstrate the skills and demonstrate the competence of rangers involved in learning activities. The videos developed by rangers while working in the field are being shared across communities to increase awareness of new biosecurity threats and management strategies as DVDs, videos on mobile devices and advertisements on the local broadcasting network. The itracker and Cybertracker system being deployed by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance are a robust PDA and software that supports rangers to collect accurate data using a sequence of customised questions that are recorded in a spreadsheet and displayed by map. These are supported by images to confirm identification of plant incursions. Government agencies have recognised the power of this approach and are negotiating the integration of mobile technologies and Indigenous led training material development into their biosecurity management and workforce development plans.

In Indonesia, mobile phones are being used to report the incidences of citrus pests and diseases and the sites to the research team who enter the information into a GIS system. The data is then used to analyse the patterns of incidence of the range of pests and diseases that are both officially recognised and not officially recognised. The mapping can be used for decision making by researchers and farmers about which are the most prevalent or important diseases in that region and their locations. Mobile technologies have provided a better way to collect information than relying on government officials to regularly visit each farm across remote areas and collect accurate data by field observations. This approach is reliant on establishing an agreement about who owns or has access to a mobile phone and is able to send an SMS notification, and the research team is still developing that system. The results of the analysis of the GIS data will be reported to farmers, community organisations, government representatives, ministries and researchers to assist in developing more accurate information sets and responses to the incidence of a particular disease or population density of a particular pest. Incidence reporting by people who are daily in the field assists in identifying the importance of a particular outbreak and related conditions of the citrus crops.

Mobile technologies that utilise existing infrastructure reduce the reliance on expensive and site specific connection technologies that are also high maintenance, such as satellites, wireless connections or laptop networks. Accessing SMS and digital cameras embedded in mobile telephones which are cheap and readily accessible, supports individuals’ engagement in communication networks. That the technology is in people’s pockets while they are engaged in daily work and learning activities increases the connectivity between that knowledge and people’s own worlds. SMS and user familiar technologies are simple and cheap. They utilise language that is familiar and draws on simple language in people’s own dialects. The images are of people’s own worlds, representing people’s experience accurately, providing a window to often unrecognised competence and realities. The information is shared in two ways that reciprocate the accountability to local communities and broader systems. One challenge is to ensure the ways information is shared back to community members retains its authenticity, accuracy and simple language or images.

The effective integration of mobile technologies including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into community acknowledgement processes is a tool in itself for improving biosecurity management such as for citrus farming as reported here, particularly for detection and decision-making. Members of local communities who have mobile phones and are willing to voluntarily participate have the opportunity to participate in knowledge transfer processes across geographic, language and knowledge borders. In this way, the coverage of detection will be much improved since mobile communication will solve problems associated with difficult access and lack of staff. Decisions about pest and disease detection and management are becoming easier to make with the advent of computerisation, and it is therefore easier to present a range of concepts to ordinary people, through the use of visual representations by means of maps and graphs.

The use of mobile technologies in work and learning contexts has demonstrated the potential that exists in incorporating new technologies to support community activities. The use of mobile technologies is of particular interest as they are already embedded in people’s daily lives and practices. People who have been traditionally excluded from established institutional knowledge management systems may be distrustful of using institutional resources. The challenge is to identify approaches that are engaging and encourage people to participate in knowledge exchange for common purposes – purposes that are locally prioritised and valued.

Photo caption: Thamarrurr Rangers recording their work to create training videos in the Murrin-Patha language.

Article written by: Ruth Wallace

CRC for Plant Biosecurity - mobile

Mobile technologies assist plant biosecurity management