Objectives
The project was created to support the agricultural sector through advanced digital tools designed to improve the prevention and management of crop diseases.
More specifically, the project aims to:
- develop a web platform that enables users to record and report plant diseases directly from agricultural fields;
- provide personalised risk indicators calculated using environmental, weather and geospatial data specific to each plot of land;
- enable the effective use of artificial intelligence to anticipate field-specific risks and improve the planning of crop protection measures.
Initial Challenge
The project’s main challenge is the collection, integration and effective use of heterogeneous data relating to the spread of plant diseases. These data are often distributed across multiple sources and are characterised by a high degree of spatial and temporal variability.
More specifically, the project addresses the difficulty of collecting reliable geolocated data on the spread of crop diseases and integrating them with local weather and geographical information. An additional challenge lies in transforming large volumes of unstructured textual data, such as plant health bulletins, into immediately actionable information that can support operational decision-making.
Solution
To address these needs, Tornatura introduces a collaborative platform that allows users to report diseases observed directly in the field, linking each report to a specific geographical location.
This information is integrated with:
- weather and geospatial data;
- machine learning models for predicting plant health risks;
- natural language processing and retrieval-augmented generation techniques, used to extract and summarise relevant information from official plant health bulletins.
The result is a dynamic system in which predictive models are continuously improved and refined through user contributions and the ongoing updating of available data.
The web application provides personalised risk scores for each agricultural plot, presented in a format that is clear and easy for users to consult.
Benefits
The Tornatura project represents a significant step towards the digitalisation and innovation of crop management processes, combining artificial intelligence, geospatial data and active user participation.
Its main benefits include:
- access to timely, location-specific reports, enabling farmers to take proactive action;
- reduced agricultural losses through improved risk prevention;
- advanced decision-making support based on predictive models and continuous monitoring of environmental conditions;
- more sustainable agricultural practices through better targeted and more informed interventions.
IFAB’s Role
IFAB acted as project coordinator and technical partner, taking overall responsibility for operational and administrative management. Its activities ranged from financial reporting and budget monitoring to overseeing relationships with project partners and the funding body, as well as organising and leading operational meetings.
IFAB also supported the engagement of businesses and agricultural cooperatives in adopting the developed solution, acting as a strategic link between the technical team and external stakeholders. From a technical perspective, IFAB’s contribution focused on developing algorithms for identifying and analysing plant health risks, as well as methodologies for creating customised AI solutions for monitoring plant diseases.
This work resulted in a web application integrating predictive models, risk maps and an alert system. The platform was designed to provide practical guidance to farmers and agronomists in managing plant health threats. Participation in Tornatura enabled Fondazione IFAB to develop specialised expertise in applying artificial intelligence to plant health monitoring and in digitalising traditional agronomic processes. This field offers significant opportunities for expansion, both through the inclusion of new crops and plant diseases and through integration with IoT systems for the real-time monitoring of crop conditions.
Visit the Dedicated Tornatura Page
For further information, please contact: projects@ifabfoundation.org
