Iowa State University researchers are developing an AI-powered pest identification app designed to put fast and reliable answers directly into farmers’ hands. The tool uses image recognition to identify insects, weeds and diseases, helping users take action earlier and potentially reduce crop losses. The research team consists of five Iowa State researchers and three international researchers. Iowa State researchers: - Arti Singh, leader of the BRIDGE project and associate professor of agronomy, management team for the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture - Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, Joseph and Elizabeth Anderlik professor in engineering, director of the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture, associate director of the Translational AI Center - Daren Mueller, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology - Soumik Sarkar, Walter W. Wilson faculty fellow in engineering, director of the Translational AI Center, associate director of the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture - Asheesh K. Singh, the G.F. Sprague chair in agronomy, management team for the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture International researchers: - Alka Arora, Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Scott Chapman, University of Queensland, Australia - Masayuki Hirafuji, University of Tokyo, Japan Singh explained how this AI project for crop disease identification began and how it has evolved. “The project started in 2014, intending to use AI to identify and classify diseases in crops,” Singh said. “Over the past decade, it has grown significantly, culminating in a $20 million AI institute grant in 2021. Along the way, we expanded beyond disease detection to include insect identification.” Muller described the problem in agriculture that the app is trying to solve. “Farmers and agronomists often struggle with accurate identification of pests in the field because traditional approaches rely on personal experience, printed guides or sending samples to the lab,” Muller said. “These methods are slow and sometimes inconsistent. The goal