Mapping And Early Detection Of Coffee Leaf Rust In Coffee Fields In Northern Thailand

PI - Oliver Windram
Food Side Co-Investigator - Katherine Denby (University Of York)
STFC Side Co-Investigator - Dr Anthony Brown (University Of Durham)

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Coffee is the most valuable and widely traded tropical agricultural product. In Thailand, coffee production began in the region north of Chiang Mai 30 years ago to replace opium. It now represents an important source of income and development opportunity in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai has government backing to establish itself as the coffee capital of South-East Asia with production in the hill villages focused on the higher quality Arabica varieties. However, high-quality coffee production, as a livelihood, is difficult in these regions. Coffee leaf rust (CLR) is a world-wide fungal disease with potentially devastating impacts on coffee production. With hill farmers unable to afford fungicides, early detection of CLR and removal of infected trees is critical. We will use drones to gather multispectral image data to identify coffee plants in hillside fields and identify initial signatures for detection of CLR prior to visible symptoms.

Read more about this project in this blog.

2018 AWARDED SCOPING PROJECT - More scoping projects