*AI-Powered Crop Disease Detector Takes Top Spot in Innovation Track By Muhammad Farouk Students from Ahmadu Bello University (...
*AI-Powered Crop Disease Detector Takes Top Spot in Innovation Track
By Muhammad Farouk
Students from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, have emerged winners of the first prize at the prestigious Huawei ICT Skills Competition Global Finals held in Shenzhen, China.
Representing the university as TeamABU2024, the trio of Hadiza Mohammed (Computer Science), Sufiyan Ibrahim (Computer Engineering), and Lawal Dundu Haruna (Computer Engineering), clinched the top prize in the Artificial Intelligence/Innovation Track with their project — the AI-powered CropDiseaseDetector.
The six-day global event, which ran from May 20 to 25, 2025, brought together leading student innovators from across the world.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The statement explained that the winning device detects diseases in a range of staple crops including yam, cassava, rice, sorghum, beans, tomato, wheat, potato, soybean, and groundnut.
It added that the solution, developed under the guidance of Dr. Zaharuddeen Haruna of the Department of Computer Engineering, also analyzes soil health and measures essential parameters such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, temperature, moisture, pH, and conductivity.
“The tool provides results and actionable recommendations in multiple languages — English, Pidgin, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo (audio and text), as well as Kiswahili, Afrikaans, French, and Arabic (text only),” said Professor M. B. Muazu, Director of the IIOE Nigeria National Centre at ABU.
According to the statement, the device is supported by a multilingual mobile application compatible with Android, iOS, and Harmony OS, aimed at enhancing accessibility for users, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Team member Hadiza Mohammed described the experience as enlightening and expressed pride in the team’s performance. “It was an incredible opportunity to engage with other tech innovators from different parts of the world. We had confidence in our solution, and we’re proud it stood out,” she said.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Adamu Ahmed, commended the students for their outstanding achievement and assured them of the institution’s commitment to supporting the commercialization of the innovation.
“This win is a testament to ABU’s commitment to fostering innovation and excellence. The university will stand by the team to ensure this product reaches the market,” the Vice-Chancellor was quoted as saying.
Also speaking, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Ahmed Doko Ibrahim, emphasized the need to sustain the achievement by formalizing TeamABU2024 into a university club. He noted that this would help preserve institutional memory and inspire future innovations.
The statement further noted that the students had earlier won the national and regional phases of the competition before advancing to the global finals in Shenzhen.
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