Knowing the popular name, scientific name and other information about plants can be very useful – as well as encouraging the preservation of species
With the advance of technologies capable of aligning themselves with environmental conservation, the first mobile plant identification application developed in Mozambique, a country with enormous plant biodiversity, has emerged. It’s called Malachi Plant Identifier and it’s an app developed by a team of computer engineers together with a gardening professional.
It’s a tool that clarifies day-to-day doubts when we encounter nature, but also facilitates the study of botany and brings anyone closer to the natural environment around them. Using simple photographs, the programme identifies species, providing detailed information on their origin, habitat, characteristics and traditional uses. How does all this work?
Functionalities
The user can ‘pull’ a photo from the Internet, save it to the image gallery (for later use) or take a photo in real time. By placing it in the Malachi Plant Identifier, the app shows the plant’s scientific name, common name and gives a description of its origin and characteristics. It also indicates what care the plant needs to be healthy. Using Artificial Intelligence, the programme recognises images of plants and can make diagnoses, detect diseases and fungi and suggest treatment methods.
Using Artificial Intelligence, the programme recognises images of plants and can make diagnoses, detect diseases and fungi and suggest treatment methods
‘This app is here to help people who are passionate about plants and gardening professionals. I realised that there is a lot of difficulty in identifying plant names and their needs, such as light, among other aspects,’ explained Ana Belmonte, a gardener and one of the members of the team that created Malachi Plant Identifier. The entrepreneur revealed to E&M that her passion for nature led her to abandon a career in Human Resources and follow her dream of working with plants. Today, Ana Belmonte is the owner of the gardening company Malachi Garden.
Vander Mohamed, a software engineer and member of the project, explains that the idea came about at a time when his team was already working on AI-related projects. ‘The first idea was to develop something that had nothing to do with plants, but Ana asked if it was possible to create something that could recognise them and their origin. That’s when this app was born.’
Access conditions
The app is in beta for IOS – available through the Test Flight service – and there is a cost to access it. ‘For those who really love plants and work with them, I think this will be a great gift. It will make your job easier and ensure that there are healthy plants in this market. We believe that this app could become internationally recognised for the value it represents for nature,’ said Ana Belmonte.
The launch shows how there can be ideas for integrating technology with environmental preservation in the country. Similar experiences have already been developed in other countries. For example, in Brazil in 2023, a team of six researchers from the University of São Paulo published a guide that presents images and field guidelines for recognising 162 species of native plants from 50 different botanical families. The characteristics and attributes described in the guide can be observed with the naked eye or with the aid of a magnifying glass.
Text: Ana Mangana – Photo: D.R.
