The imbalance between agricultural productivity and the growing global food demand has dramatically worsened over recent decades. There are approximately one billion people in the world experiencing chronic food insecurity and the numbers are expected to increase. Whilst, there is a shortage of agricultural extension experts who can aid farmers in overcoming problems that effect agriculture production.

Pathogens are directly responsible for yield losses of ~30% of the global agricultural productivity. Farmers experience annual losses of $300 billion due to lack of pest and disease diagnosis, containment, and treatment options. Many plant diseases have a fairly well-established control protocol; however, failure to control the problem occurs due to misdiagnoses, late-stage diagnoses, and lack of knowledge and access to solutions.

One of the reasons early detection of pests and diseases is challenging is because the knowledge we have accumulated in the agriculture research oftentimes does not tickle down to farmers. If farmers had access to such knowledge, they could take preventive measures. There is a need to supply to farmers with tools that help them assess risks and plan their prevention steps more accurately.