Technological development in various areas has allowed agriculture to utilize some of these advances to help farmers grow, maintain, and store crop yields in a more efficient and profitable way. Increasingly, more remote sensing tools are available for farmers, cutting back on time spent traveling and focusing on analyzing data and making decisions.
Remote monitoring of crops with satellite imagery is quite common today. Analyzing pictures taken from Earth’s orbit helps to recognize crop canopy issues in time. The remote field scouting for insect infestations is a more sophisticated and advanced system. If you have experienced pest outbreaks in the past, or if your farm is situated along common migration paths for pest insects from the South, this tool could bring significant advantages to your farm protection system.
The insect trap, connected to a high-resolution camera along with AI cloud software that analyzes the pictures taken, makes it an ideal instrument for early insect infestation estimation. Pictures taken with a 10 MP camera are sent to the AI cloud and analyzed for any pests; if any are observed, a report is sent to the grower. The trap works throughout the season, if necessary.
Different types of traps have been developed specifically for monitoring field crops, vegetable production, or orchards. Some models of iScout include the specific pheromone lure to attract insects.
Despite the various shapes and sizes of the devices, the core of the system is always the same—a sticky plate, a high-resolution camera, and accurate software to count collected insects. It is a power-independent device that uses a solar panel and a battery for a very long period.
To calculate the costs, you might incur from day-to-day field scouting for insects, doing sweeps, and trying to determine whether it reaches a threshold for spraying, your investment in this trap may pay off in one or two seasons. Moreover, the benefits of early pest observation help prevent crop damage.
For example, the diamondback moth usually doesn’t survive our winters, and new populations of the pests migrate with strong south winds from the US to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta every year. Traps installed along the migration paths can promptly indicate when the migration occurs and allow the severity of the migration to be estimated. Therefore, instead of spraying all the fields, growers could save a significant amount on insecticides, as up to four generations of the moth can develop during the season under favorable weather conditions. The only way to prevent severe crop damage and loss is through crop monitoring and the use of insecticides.
Ronin Agronomy helps farmers achieve their goals in the most efficient way by offering only time-proven independent agronomy advice with a team of local senior agronomists. Additionally, our collaboration with only quality equipment producers helps us to supply and maintain the necessary tools for farmers to grow abundant and high-quality yields.
At the beginning – June 21
In the middle – July 15
At the end of season – August 2
