The International Cooperation and Development Fund's technical mission is leveraging drones and biochips to aid Guatemala and Belize against Fusarium wilt, known as Panama disease. Latin America and the Caribbean are key banana exporters, with both nations exporting US$1 billion annually. Since being first detected in Colombia in 2019, Fusarium oxysporum has spread to Peru and Venezuela by 2023. Its further advance north threatens Central America's banana production.
Top experts in plant disease and pests, along with biomedical engineers, have been invited to Guatemala, Belize, and Panama. A seminar in Guatemala City was held to share Taiwan's plant disease prevention strategies. Professor Wang Gou-jen of National Chung Hsing University explained that Taiwan employs drones fitted with Nvidia AI chips to monitor crop areas. These drones use image recognition and AI to detect anomalies, uploading data to cloud servers or mobile devices, enabling swift farmer response to plant issues.
Professor Chang Cheng-chung of National Chung Hsing University highlighted Taiwan's development of biochips, which, aided by big data, quickly detect pests and pesticide residue. Previously, laboratory tests were required, which were labor-intensive and could analyze only one pesticide at a time over several days.
At the seminar, a rapid screening kit for Fusarium wilt by National Taiwan University Professor Hung Ting-hsuan drew interest, along with models from the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology Work Dog Training Center, which trains dogs to detect brown root rot.
Source: Taipei Times
