NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY, TAIPEI, TAIWAN. A new system has been developed to monitor the oriental fruit fly in farms. This technology saves farmers billions of dollars because they will know exactly when there is an infestation on their fruits and vegetables.
Farmers suffer annual fruit-crop loss due to the damage caused by the oriental fruit fly alone. With this system, it will be reduced down to 50 percent. Right now, the state of California has a serious problem with oriental fruit flies. On August 8, the government had to issue an emergency statewide alert because there were several oriental fruit flies spotted in the state. They had to lockdown huge parts of their farmlands in a crippling quarantine.
Although some people might think that this is just a case of overreaction, it is not. The oriental fruit fly is just one of the most feared insects in agriculture. It is capable of destroying billions of dollars worth of farming goods with its larvae. With the software-based monitoring system, farmers will be able to tell when it’s time to panic. It works as some sort of early warning system for an infestation in their farms.
The software-based monitoring system was developed by Cheng-Long Chuang and his colleagues at the National Taiwan University in Taipei. It automatically counts the fruit flies that get caught in the trap with infrared beams. It is regularly monitored every 10 days and the results are sent to a local radio station every 30 minutes for a real-time update of the insect’s population.
| Invention | Software-Based Fruit Fly Counting System |
|---|---|
| Organization | National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Researcher | Cheng-Long Chuang & Colleagues |
| Field(s) | Precision Agriculture, Environmental Parameter Monitoring, Wireless Communication Technology, Mechatronics Technology, Bactrocera Dorsalis (Hendel), Ecological Environment |
| Further Information | New Scientist |
