A new three-year research project to develop new sensor solutions for improved monitoring of agricultural insect pests has commenced.
Bayer and FaunaPhotonics have entered into the research cooperation to develop efficient pest control, which at the same time spares beneficials and pollinators. It is considered one of the biggest challenges facing farmers worldwide.
The ability to systematically and efficiently detect and identify insect populations is key to improved integrated pest management (IPM), which relies on the accuracy of pest population monitoring techniques.
"New sensor solutions can deliver data directly to our Digital Farming tools and will enable farmers to make faster and better decisions, in particular in terms of a more targeted application of crop protections products," said Ole Peters, Digital Farming Technology Lead at Crop Science, a division of Bayer. "Knowing what is going on in the field makes a farmer’s life easier, secures harvests, boosts yields and protects pollinators."
"The collaboration with Bayer will allow FaunaPhotonics to move forward important sensor technology in the insect monitoring area," added Frederik Taarnhøj, CEO and Co-Founder of FaunaPhotonics. "The new technology is expected to fill gaps in our knowledge of insect populations, leading to improvements in insect control and more sustainable food production."
Significant losses
Insect pests directly damage crops causing significant losses, and pest control has always been considered the most difficult challenge to overcome.
The main reason is that the dynamics of the pest population density in the field cannot be accurately monitored. Until now, monitoring methods have been based on manual techniques that do not lend themselves well to automation and digital software solutions. Furthermore, at farm level, regular monitoring of fields is a labor-intensive, time-consuming and costly activity, in particular for large farm operations.
The joint development between Bayer and FaunaPhotonics is seen as an affordable sensor-based digital solution which will hopefully allow accurate insect monitoring, which is hoped will be advantageous for growers worldwide.
The research and development collaboration is titled "Agronomic pest mitigation & non-target effects mitigation strategies using in-field light detection and ranging (LIDAR) based aerial-fauna detection."
