Legally, sweetpotatoes infested with weevils should not be moved from the farm until first cleared with the Division of Plant Industry. There is a quarantine on this pest. Advances in technology have made it possible to obtain larger amounts of information quickly and process it more accurately. Such things as the internet and e-mail have cut the amount of time spent obtaining information related to pesticides and fertilizers. Many publications are now going on-line, decreasing the time from the press to print and then to the reader.
Growers can access some publications on the web, thus decreasing time from the press to the mailbox.
In the case of plant disease diagnosis, a great deal of time usually is consumed in the sampling procedure, mailing, and then the time spent in the lab for the scientist to determine the actual cause of the plant disorder. Then there is valuable time lost in returning the answer and suggested control procedures to the county agent or grower. Then the process is begun all over again, with more time lost. There is now a tool plant pathologists, entomologists, other plant professionals, county agents and some growers are using to speed the process of diagnosing plant problems. Digital cameras are becoming more common in households and will soon be as common as the personal computer.