From firefights to foresight:
APEC event demonstrates AI-enabled tech can fight crop pests and diseases

Climate change is intensifying pest and disease pressure for many food crops, and vegetables are no exception.

But this mounting threat now faces a formidable counter challenge: artificial intelligence (AI) fueled by networks of internet-connected sensors, drones, and cameras – the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). Together, they form the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) – an audacious alliance that’s already transforming crop protection from reactive control into predictive, precision management of pests and diseases.

To explore the successes and opportunities of AIoT, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) brought together 80 experts from six Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries last week. The two-day event, Advancing AIoT-Driven ICM Pest Management in Rural Agriculture: From Policy to Practice, was held in Tainan, Taiwan.

WorldVeg plant pathologist Lourena Maxwell gave a keynote speech, emphasizing the need for a fundamental shift in the way we manage crop pests and diseases. She called for a shift from reactive pest control to predictive and proactive Integrated Crop Management (ICM) – a holistic approach to sustainably boosting yields while protecting ecosystems and reducing reliance on agrochemicals. She went on to explain the role of AloT in that transition, and how it can be combined with “biologicals” – living organisms or their natural products, such us biopesticides, biofertilizers and biostimulants, that can support environmentally friendly crop protection, plant health, and productivity.

“AIoT-driven ICM is shaping the future of plant health,” she said. “We can turn data into decisions, predict problems, prevent outbreaks through early detection, and protect crops with biologicals first, using chemicals only as precise backstops.”

To illustrate AIoT in practice, Maxwell introduced VeggieMon, the vegetable disease monitoring system developed by WorldVeg that tracks nearly 10,000 pathogens across 62 countries. It covers fearsome foes from Southern blight – a highly destructive, soil-borne fungal disease that causes vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants to keel over and die within days of infection – to whitefly-transmitted Begomoviruses that that cause major losses in vegetable production worldwide. VeggieMon allows users to visualize the global distribution of pathogen variants, helping them take informed decisions about crop breeding and the use of different forms of crop protection. Maxwell also invited participants to collaborate with WorldVeg in building a global early-warning system for vegetable diseases.

On the second day participants visited WorldVeg headquarters in Shanhua, Tainan, to witness how smart technologies are accelerating the development of resilient, high-performing vegetable varieties, and to hear about new approaches to pest and disease management. They also learned about Phenospex, WorldVeg’s high-throughput phenotyping platform. This uses automated, advanced sensors and cameras to rapidly gather and analyse data from crop field trials – in this case Chinese cabbage – and monitor the response of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses in minute detail. Researchers also shared insights on biodiversity conservation, soil health, and practical applications of the VeggieMon and Phenospex technologies.

   

 

The conversation now continues: A new Consortium which aims to strengthen public–private partnerships to boost the understanding, development and use of biologicals as vital tools for sustainable crop production will hold its inaugural meeting at on 5th November 2025, at WorldVeg headquarters in Taiwan. The WorldVeg-Biologicals Consortium, which embodies the organization’s Open Science approach, aims to:

  • Accelerate development and adoption of biologicals
  • Foster public–private partnerships
  • Strengthen policy and regulatory Support
  • Promote regional and international collaboration.
  • Strengthen capacity and knowledge exchange.

Stay tuned for more info.