Diagnosing Crop Threats with a Tap, Not a Lab

After 17 years in agriculture, Yonas Tsegaye has seen just about everything that can threaten a crop, from invasive pests to sudden disease outbreaks. As the Regional Crop Protection Director in Sidama, Ethiopia, his job is to catch these problems early and guide prevention, diagnosis, and treatment across the region’s many farms.

For most of his career, however, Yonas had access to just one diagnostic tool: a single, overburdened plant clinic lab tucked inside the Bureau of Agriculture. And that one lab? It had to serve dozens of woredas, leading to delays, bottlenecks, and in situations where pests spread faster than lab results could arrive.

“It was always a race against time,” Yonas says. “And often, the pests won.”

Things began to shift when Yonas discovered Farmer.Chat, an AI-powered mobile app developed by Digital Green that allows agricultural professionals and farmers to diagnose and manage crop threats in real time. After downloading it from the Play Store and working with our staff to configure the tool, Yonas quickly realized its potential. What once may have required lab time, paperwork, and waiting on results could now be done on the spot.

With just his smartphone, Yonas began diagnosing threats to crops like maize and Irish potatoes. He could take a photo, identify a pest or disease, and instantly share treatment advice with experts and farmers across the region. No delays. No lab queue. No running between woredas.

“Now is the time for technology to play a role in this sector at a low cost,” he says. “The process used to be very intensive, but FarmerChat significantly simplifies my tasks.”

For Yonas, the benefits extend beyond efficiency. Tools like Farmer.Chat are helping to decentralize the system, enabling local extension agents and kebele experts to identify and address problems directly, without waiting for regional approval or lab confirmation.

“This kind of tool empowers local experts. They don’t have to wait—they can act,” he says. “It’s transforming how we protect our crops, and it’s just the beginning.”

Yonas sees this as the future of crop protection in Ethiopia—faster, smarter, and more responsive to farmers’ needs. And in his view, this is just the beginning.