Role of GIS in Pesticide Management

Submitted by:Pattan Imran Khan

P401115FGS270

M.TECH GIS

NIIT University

A Presentation

on

Pest & PesticidePest: A pest is "a plant or animal detrimental to humans or human concerns (as agriculture or livestock production)“;  In its broadest sense, a pest is a competitor of humanity.

Fig. Caterpillars cause crop damage

Image Source: http://goo.gl/UFjXKl

Pesticide: Pesticides are substances meant for attracting, seducing and then

destroying any pest.

They are a class of Biocide.

The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from damaging influences such as weeds, fungi, or insects.

Fig. Farmer spraying PesticideImage Source: http://goo.gl/CFyfKP

Role of GIS in Pest & Pesticide Management: Geographic information systems (GIS) provide valuable

tools in monitoring, predicting, managing and fighting the spread of pests and diseases.

The tools offer opportunities for cost-effective and efficient targeting of control interventions.

In monitoring, GIS can be used to determine the spatial extent of a disease, to identify spatial patterns of the disease and to link the disease to auxiliary spatial data.

GIS can also be used to predict the projected spread of diseases, to provide input for risk assessment models in pest control and in quantifying changing thresholds of pests and diseases due to climate change.

The potential benefits of GIS techniques in disease and pest control: A Case Study Based on a regional project in central

Africa Pests and diseases of bananas threaten the livelihoods of

over 20 million people in the Great Lakes region. This case study illustrates the use of GIS tools on data

collected to identify critical intervention areas to combat the spread of Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW).

In a survey covering the Great Lakes region, on-farm incidence of the

disease was monitored and precise GPS coordinates of each sampled field

were recorded.

This enabled accurate mapping of the disease and performing the various

spatial analyses, permitting an understanding of the geographical

distribution of BXW infection.

Data on food security and dependency on banana to rural populations

was linked to the BXW severity to target priority areas of interventions

and maximize impact.

Image Source: http://goo.gl/osCAVa

Fig. Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW)