Crop Disease AppFrank Henry and Chris Sounness

DEPI, Horsham Victoria

How did we get from an old phone to a Smartphone?

May 2011

What captured our imagination?

Industry Consultation

The JourneyPaddock - Crop Disease App - Paddock

Resistance is the key to integrated management. Screen 60,000 wheat lines for disease resistance.

App is part of a multi-faceted extension program.

Crop diseases cost Vic. $120 million per year.

Aims - Pilot ProjectIncrease the use of resistant varieties and reduce chemical use.

Enabling agronomists and farmers to compare the diseases resistance ratings and identify diseases in the paddock.

Investigate the potential of smartphone technology for Ag extension.

Document the learning experience.

Apply key learning to other Ag extension projects.

The App Developer24 August 2011

“Am I Ready to Build an App” video Danny Gorog

“Good apps take a long time to release.”

“Take a lot of maintenance, a lot of care, and a lot of effort afterwards.”

“You’ve got to spend money on design”.

“If you’re not a developer, you have to seriously consider what you bring to the table . . . enter these things as a partnership. . .”

Why Outware? Good track record, worked with DEPI, leaders in the field, recommended by colleague, approved for whole of Gov. contract, they understand us, and most importantly - they understand science. Many excellent Australian developers.

“Kick-off” meeting2 November 2011

Project planning.How apps are designed.Five big buttons. Organises data

“spreadsheets”.Contract. Wireframes.Beta testing.Live in the App store.

Back to the drawing-boardLayout Crop Disease App

Five big buttons - CROP: DISEASE: COMPARE: SHARE: MORE:

CROP

CEREAL: PULSE: OILSEED:

WHEAT: BARLEY: OATS

Axe bread wheat is AH quality Moderately resistant to stripe rust ..

Wireframes3 January 2012

Crop Disease App

Data - Spreadsheets1. Crop Varieties 3262. Crop Diseases 113 (62)

Total of 20,771 entries

4. Disease Images 120 jpgs 3. Disease Resistance Ratings 20,212

Spreadsheets: drive me nuts!!!!

Might be time to move to a database

Cut & PasteVictorian Winter Crop Summary

Disease Resistance RatingsDisease Image Library

GREAT IDEA!

Beta testing 4 April 2012

Beta testing (bugs, feedback, improvements, images).

Beta testers from GRDC agronomy updates Feb 2012.

Known when to stop testing/developing, and say enough lets fly.

Testflight distribute of the app.

Submit to iStore through developer accounts Apple and Google Play.

Apple takes 7-10 days for further testing Apple. Three days Android.

App launch

Version 1.0 original release July 2012.

Version 1.2 for release July 2013.  * Thirty new disease images.

* Multiple disease images. * Pinch to zoom disease images. * Management added to diseases. * Exotic (not in Australia) diseases added.* Sort varieties by resistance ratings.

Minister Walsh launched the app Birch Expo 5 July 2012.

Version 1.1 for iOS6 January 2013.

Plant Pathology standBirchip Cropping Group Expo

EvaluationBasic information from developer accounts (Crash reports, Country, Device, Downloads).

Daily installs – Check most days. Peak 2 days after an event.

5000 total installs - how many times the app has been downloaded.

2,500 active installs - how many instances of the app is actively used.

Google Analytics26 August 2012 to 23 June 2013

Page views 80,495

Length of visit 8.27 min

Pages per visit 10.5

Bounce rate 6.23%

Victoria 60%

Returning 80%

New 20%

iOS 53%Android 47%

Pages Views Number %

Crops 11,319 14.1

Disease/DiseaseType/Details 8,183 10.2

Crops/CropType 7,398 9.2

Crop/CropType/Varieties 7,359 9.1

Disease/DiseaseType 7,265 9.0

QuickCompare 6,226 7.8

Diseases 5,815 7.2

Crop/CropType/Varieties/Details 5,594 7.0

Crop/CropType/Varieties/Details/Resistance

2,421 3.0

QuickCompare/EditCompare 2,300 2.9

  63,880 80%

Key learnings Expensive and high maintenance.

Know when to stop developing, and go live.

Use a high quality developer.

Cost the same for iPhone, Android, iPad, Tablet.

Apple takes 7-10 days for testing. Android ~ 3 days.

Need a plan to ensure the app can be updated.

Consult with industry, first. Ask them what they want? Have a clear concept.

DEPI information highly regarded. App was an appropriate choice to delivery.

Native app may not be the appropriate delivery mechanism.

Information first - delivery mechanism second.

Developed for iPhone and Android. Will work on iPads/tablets.

Information, software and hardware are continually changing.

Don’t underestimate the time involved. Huge commitment.

The FutureFully mature app, low maintenance costs

System in place to update varieties in February each year.

Apple will update their operating system (iOS7) in September 2013.

Android systems also upgraded.

Take the app Australia wide.

Started in May 2011. Launched July 2012. Update July 2013

Now is would be good time to download the Crop Disease App

DEPI web sitedepi.vic.gov.au