AI-vision for integrated management of pest insects and their natural enemies

What this was about

Ritter Guimapi of NIBIO presented an idea and work in progress: extending precision sprayer robots, which in Norway have cut herbicide use by 40-90% by dropping herbicide only on detected weeds, to insect pests within conservation biological control. The vision is a robot that distinguishes pests from beneficial natural enemies (e.g. parasitoids) and applies insecticide only to pests. He described why collecting representative training images has proven much harder than for weeds: pest-enemy interactions are transient and hard to time, insects are mobile, damaging life stages sit on leaf undersides, affordable equipment is needed, and regulations restrict releasing natural enemies in controlled settings. He invited suggestions on equipment and approaches.

Why it matters. Integrating AI vision into conservation biological control could reduce pesticide use while protecting beneficial insects, but data acquisition is the bottleneck.

In the room

• Integrated Pest Management and conservation biological control aim to keep pests below thresholds while supporting beneficial organisms.
• Precision sprayer robots in Norway reduce herbicide use by 40-90%, helped by regulations banning drone spraying.
• Transfer learning was the first idea, but field data collection failed.
• Challenges: timing of interactions, insect mobility, eggs and larvae on leaf undersides, cost of equipment, and national regulations.
• A controlled environment is being explored but is not simple either.

Notable moments