Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have received a more than $324,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop efficient monitoring systems for insect infestations in grain storage and large-scale food processing facilities.
These advanced automated sensors, insect traps and robotic technologies will work together to identify which pest species are present, determine the location of contaminated areas and generate estimations of pest population sizes in stored corn, wheat, tobacco, hops and more. An autonomous ground robot will also be developed to acquire data to produce reliable 2-D floor maps of infestations, ensuring control strategies use minimal pesticides and are accurately applied before significant food and financial loss occurs.
Chetan Badgujar, project lead and agricultural engineer in the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, says the new systems will reduce post-harvest losses and contamination in the global food market and supply chain. “Current detection methods are often inaccurate, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Our new devices will provide automated reports of infestations thanks to an advanced robotic-based recognition system that is functional anywhere and with any local insect populations.”…