Appendix I: References Cited

Annual summary of field crop insect management trials, Department of Crop Services, University of Illinois. Providing accurate and unbiased evaluations of insect control products and management strategies to assist growers in Illinois.University of Illinois Extension and Department of Crop Science

Technique of pneumatic pest control – analyses and a new device

Pest control in organic production of berries, potatoes and vegetables usually employs spreading technique of registered phytopharmaceutical agents. This technique may be supported or even replaced by pneumatic pest control. Pneumatic pest control means suction of pest using a vacuum device similar to a home vacuum cleaner. Up to now there is no evaluation of pneumatic pest control available from an agricultural engineering point of view. This paper concerns the following questions: Which techniques of pneumatic pest control are available and how may these techniques be improved in terms of technical and physical parameters? Based on the answers a new device design is presented

Poultry Pest Management

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Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Collected by Pitfall Trapping in Michigan Small-Grain Fields

(excerpt) During the 1980 growing season a series of standard, single-cup pitfall traps were maintained in wheat, oat, barley, and rye fields in Michigan. The traps were maintained by Pest Management Field Assistants (PMFAs) and entomology students from Michigan State University. The traps were primarily used to monitor insect pest activity as part of pest management scouting

Interface between pest risk science and policy : the EPPO perspective

The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) is an intergovernmental organization responsible for cooperation in plant protection in the European and Mediterranean region. It provides global distribution maps of pests, and intends to identify the areas at risk from new and emerging pests, in the framework of Pest Risk Analyses. EPPO has developed a decision-support scheme for Pest Risk Analysis (DSS) and a computer program (CAPRA) to assist pest risk analysts in running the decisionsupport scheme. Dedicated rating guidance and a Climatic Suitability Risk Mapping Decision-Support Scheme have recently been developed to guide assessors in identifying the potential area of establishment of a pest. All these tools have been developed taking into account both pest risk science available and needs of policy makers. The use of these tools and of mapping software are undertaken within the framework of EPPO Pest Risk Analyses, as illustrated through the examples of Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera) and Apriona germari (Coleoptera)

Sunflower Insect Monitoring Projects

During the 2013 growing season, UVM Extension’s Northwest Crops & Soils Program conducted studies to document the prevalence and impact of sunflower insect pests. Understanding the pest pressures unique to this region is crucial in producing a viable crop. Surveys of sunflower fields in the Northeast have shown that though plant populations are similar to the national averages, estimated yields are lower, primarily due to pest issues. Entire sunflower fields have been lost to pest pressures such as birds, weeds, insects, and disease, but Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies can help sunflower growers mitigate these problems

Integrated pest management of black weevil in banana cropping systems

The black weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Coleoptera: curculionidae) is a major pest of banana in export farms and for smallholders in developing countries. New Integrated Pest Management strategies include the implementation of prophylactic cropping practices and the use of pheromone-pitfall traps. The combined use of pheromone-pitfall traps and fallows reduces the number of C. sordidus adults in the field and has significantly reduced insecticide use in the French West Indies and in the Canary Islands. Because of the patchy distribution of C. sordidus and the capabilities of weevils to invade neighbouring fields, these methods should be deployed at the farm and landscape scale, with special focus on their spatial and temporal organisation. To further refine the Integrated Pest Management of this pest in the longer term, we are evaluating biocontrol agents and modelling tools developed to simulate the spatial organisation of traps at the plot and landscape scales. (Résumé d'auteur

Pest risk analysis for Bactrocera invadens : Guidelines on Pest Risk Analysis

Stripping related moisture damage has been recognized as one of the major pavement distresses since the early 1990s. The main objective of this study is to establish an effective test protocol to quantify moisture susceptibility of asphalt pavements. To this end, selective test methods (Texas Boiling test, Tensile Strength Ratio, Retained Stability, and Hamburg Wheel Test), and procedures based on surface chemistries and molecular-level mechanistic properties have been investigated in this study. Firstly, a comprehensive list of literature related to moisture damage in asphalts was reviewed. Based on the literature review, a detailed project plan and test matrix were developed. Binder samples originated from two different crude sources were collected. The moisture resistance related tests such as static contact angle measurements and Texas Boiling tests were conducted. Besides, asphalt binders’ nanomechanical properties using an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and surface chemistries using a static contact were evaluated in the laboratory. Based on limited test data and analysis, it is concluded that there does not exist any single test method that all agencies are comfortable and equipped to follow in their daily work as each technique has some merits and demerits. However, the Texas Boiling test is found to be the simplest method that requires minimal time and resources. On the other hand, surface chemistry and atomic force microscope-based techniques are becoming popular among researchers and pavement professionals. Findings of this study are expected to help ARDOT in selecting an appropriate moisture resistance test method that is simple, reliable, and easy to implement in their routine work

Automatic plant pest detection and recognition using k-means clustering algorithm and correspondence filters

Plant pest recognition and detection is vital for food security, quality of life and a stable agricultural economy. This research demonstrates the combination of the k-means clustering algorithm and the correspondence filter to achieve pest detection and recognition. The detection of the dataset is achieved by partitioning the data space into Voronoi cells, which tends to find clusters of comparable spatial extents, thereby separating the objects (pests) from the background (pest habitat). The detection is established by extracting the variant distinctive attributes between the pest and its habitat (leaf, stem) and using the correspondence filter to identify the plant pests to obtain correlation peak values for different datasets. This work further establishes that the recognition probability from the pest image is directly proportional to the height of the output signal and inversely proportional to the viewing angles, which further confirmed that the recognition of plant pests is a function of their position and viewing angle. It is encouraging to note that the correspondence filter can achieve rotational invariance of pests up to angles of 360 degrees, which proves the effectiveness of the algorithm for the detection and recognition of plant pests

Drones: Innovative Technology for Use in Precision Pest Management.

Arthropod pest outbreaks are unpredictable and not uniformly distributed within fields. Early outbreak detection and treatment application are inherent to effective pest management, allowing management decisions to be implemented before pests are well-established and crop losses accrue. Pest monitoring is time-consuming and may be hampered by lack of reliable or cost-effective sampling techniques. Thus, we argue that an important research challenge associated with enhanced sustainability of pest management in modern agriculture is developing and promoting improved crop monitoring procedures. Biotic stress, such as herbivory by arthropod pests, elicits physiological defense responses in plants, leading to changes in leaf reflectance. Advanced imaging technologies can detect such changes, and can, therefore, be used as noninvasive crop monitoring methods. Furthermore, novel methods of treatment precision application are required. Both sensing and actuation technologies can be mounted on equipment moving through fields (e.g., irrigation equipment), on (un)manned driving vehicles, and on small drones. In this review, we focus specifically on use of small unmanned aerial robots, or small drones, in agricultural systems. Acquired and processed canopy reflectance data obtained with sensing drones could potentially be transmitted as a digital map to guide a second type of drone, actuation drones, to deliver solutions to the identified pest hotspots, such as precision releases of natural enemies and/or precision-sprays of pesticides. We emphasize how sustainable pest management in 21st-century agriculture will depend heavily on novel technologies, and how this trend will lead to a growing need for multi-disciplinary research collaborations between agronomists, ecologists, software programmers, and engineers