Using just a smartphone camera, the app identifies plant diseases, pests and other crop problems and offers solutions farmers and gardeners can actually use instead of a random Google search. After an insect is identified on a plant, the user can discover information about the impact that it has on crops as well as find out about potential treatments available. It can also identify diseases on plants.

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According to the Lansing State Journal, Juniors Rithik Parthasarathy and Sai Pranav Tejas Valisetty, who are both from India, teamed up with two students in California to develop AgriVerse. Valisetty told LSJ, “There are a bunch of apps that do something similar to this (AgriVerse), but they also require a lot more energy output and processing.” Instead, the team wanted to come up with an app that would be more accessible in rural areas without reliable internet.

From classroom to the Capitol.

That practical focus paid off: AgriVerse won first place in the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for Michigan’s 7th District, beating out other student projects nationwide and earning its creators an invite to showcase their youth tech talent this spring at the U.S. Capitol. The students hope that the app can be publicly available by the time of the visit.

The Congressional App Challenge is a national competition that Tom Barrett, the Michigan representative for the 7th district, and other members of Congress host each year to encourage middle and high school student participation in computer science and coding.

From classroom concept to crop-saving companion.

AgriVerse may turn out to be more than just a classroom project stitched together with trendy buzzwords. By zeroing in on real problems facing rural agriculture – especially smaller farms without access to high-end technology – the app aims to put practical, data-driven tools into the hands of everyday growers. If the concept takes root, what these students are cultivating could translate into something genuinely useful in the fields: quick, affordable answers delivered straight to a farmer’s phone when they need them most.