Smart Pest Control Technology for You!

Are your crops suffering from pest infestations? Even if you caught a bug, there are still millions more waiting for you!

Pest control usually relies on experience. Farmers need to go into the fields in person to observe, identify, and eliminate pests. Pest problems have gradually become a significant issue in Taiwan. Without effective control and management, people might suffer substantial losses in crops. Nowadays, farmers can perform management through integrated pest and disease control strategies, thereby improving the control efficiency effectively. However, as farmers face problems of labor shortages and an aging workforce in recent years, there is no choice but to look for alternative solutions. With rapid improvements in technology, the application and introduction of technical pest management equipment provide an opportunity for change.

The Best Pest and Disease Consulting Assistant

In the past, farmers needed years of experience to accurately determine the causes of crop damage. Through the “Intelligent Agricultural Pest and Disease Management System”, farmers can determine pests and diseases as well as the corresponding control methods by themselves during the crop cultivation process. On the other hand, experts’ R&D results can be turned into detailed information on a web page through backend editing. This results in an easy presentation of the integrated R&D results, facilitating the succession of R&D achievements and effective and direct education for farmers of the application methods. In addition, this supports the implementation of safe agricultural production, low pesticide use, and reduction of food safety issues. Additionally, the “Pest and Disease Consulting Assistant” on Line and the “Pest and Disease Information Collection” app are developed. The Line Consulting Assistant performs semantic analysis on the content of chats and pushes relevant information immediately if the chat includes keywords related to the pest and disease system. Through the Pest and Disease Information Collection app, extensive information on the types, time of occurrence, and geographical locations of plant pests and diseases are recorded. These serve as powerful tools to assist fellows in the field of plant protection or plant doctors in real-time field diagnoses of pests and diseases.

Labor-saving Pest Monitoring with AI and Image Recognition

Traditionally, information on pests and diseases is obtained through detection using sticky traps, which typically requires one to two weeks. The results calculated in a laboratory are eventually integrated and provided to farmers. This method is not only time-consuming but also labor-intensive. Nowadays, the integration of image recognition technology, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) enables the implementation of automated, long-term monitoring of pests. This, coupled with sensed data on temperature, humidity, and light intensity in the environment, facilitates the establishment of smart and integrated pest management strategies. Moreover, the integrated information can be delivered to farmers timely, enabling them to manage their crops more efficiently in the shortest amount of time.

The current smart pest monitoring system has been implemented in regions such as Chiayi, Yunlin, and Tainan in the past two to three years, spreading across approximately 10 to 20 sites with nearly a hundred AIoT monitoring nodes in total. The types of crops monitored include tomatoes, lisianthus, orchids, and seedlings. Once the equipment is installed, farmers can learn methods of pest and disease management as well as improving crop-related operations at any time, effectively solving greenhouse pest issues. The equipment has an IP65-level water resistance, making it suitable for not only greenhouses but also use in general fields. The equipment features a solar panel that enables it to supply power for itself. Thus, in case of a power outage, it is able to operate independently for up to half a month relying on the power it stored. In addition, the pest identification system provides farmers with real-time information on pests, diseases, and environmental conditions so as to meet the monitoring requirements for integrated pest management in the cultivation and integrated control of crops. Relevant statistics are connected on servers and in software to generate reports, providing farmers with daily real-time field information or monthly and quarterly reports. Through these information and reports, benefits in agricultural site management can be derived, thereby facilitating early pest and disease control. This not only reduces crop damage but also reduces costs and improves the environment for plant cultivation due to the decrease in pesticide and material usage.

New Tool for Rice Crop Health Inspection: No Hiding Place for Brown Planthoppers

The brown planthopper is a major pest of the rice in the second crop season in Taiwan. According to the statistics made by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, brown planthoppers cause rice plants to wilt rapidly each year. They not only affect the growth of rice plants severely but also reduce both the yield and quality of rice plants, leading to a production loss of 30% to 40%. To monitor the fields to see if there is any damage brought by brown planthoppers at any time, farmers can download the “Smart Brown Planthopper Monitoring and Warning System” app, which allows them to do so easily. The app is convenient and simple to operate as it only requires the use of a cellphone. As the system is still waiting for further updates, it currently supports the Android system only. With just another simple device (e.g., a selfie stick), you can monitor changes in the number of planthoppers in your field. Relevant data is instantly transmitted to your cellphone and shows the numbers of different planthopper populations in green, yellow, and red. By using the statistics, you will be able to quickly control the changes in the populations and apply an accurate amount of pesticide to reduce pesticide usage.

Labor-saving and Safe Method for Crop Pest Control: Drones

As agricultural machinery continues to evolve, drones are frequently seen spraying pesticides and monitoring crop growth in the field. Though drones are highly efficient in pesticide application, there is still room for improvement in the accuracy of applied dosage, which is a key technology in pest and disease control. In addition, many variable parameters can affect the effectiveness of pesticide application, such as the quality and properties of the pesticide, the height and speed of flight as well as the type of nozzles during pesticide application. Therefore, achieving perfect accuracy in pesticide application with drones requires relatively advanced technology. Hence, this type of pesticide application is actually a high-technology operation. To enable spray drone operators to quickly learn the correct pesticide application methods, the pesticide application parameters obtained from the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute in recent years have provide the inexperienced individuals with easy operations. Moreover, it is ensured that the pesticide is spread evenly and has come into effect. As a result, the goals of pesticide application safety and correct pest and disease control are both achieved.

As smart technology becomes more developed and widespread, it not only brings convenience to people's lives, but also benefits hardworking farmers by simplifying the conventional laborious and time-consuming tasks with respect to pest control. In the future, the continuous optimization and integration of technology will open a new chapter in pest management.