East West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation launches new Pesticide Selection Tool

East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT) has launched a new Pesticide Selection Tool for the Bangladeshi vegetable farming community.

Country manager of East-West Seed Bangladesh Private Limited Mostafa Kamal officially launched the tool in a virtual meeting on Thursday, says a press release.

The EWS-KT is a non-profit foundation established by East-West Seed Group.

Vegetable farmers in Bangladesh can encounter challenges in selecting the right pesticide for a pest or disease attack.

Once a pesticide is chosen, farmers often apply too much pesticide, making the vegetables harmful to consume, or too little pesticide, leading to increased pest attacks and a loss for the farmer.

EWS-KT brings profitable and sustainable farm practices to smallholder vegetable farmers struggling with poor yields in underdeveloped Asia and Africa.

The organisation has seen the challenges faced by smallholder vegetable farmers in using the right pesticide for their crops and applying it correctly.

In collaboration with Wageningen University and Research, EWS-KT has developed a mobile application to mitigate these challenges.

The EWS-KT Pesticide Selection Tool matches common pests and diseases in vegetables with a list of appropriate registered pesticides available in the Bangladesh market.

It enables users to identify the pest or disease, choose the right pesticide, and learn about the pesticide through information such as active ingredient, mode of action, and instructions for proper application.

The tool is available in English and Bangla, with the ability to filter the pesticide based on the WHO Hazard Class, Highly Hazardous class, and bee toxicity.

The EWS-KT Pesticide Selection Tool can be accessed by farmers on their smartphones by scanning the QR code.