Drones Continued from Page 3
aphid predator, and the thrip-destroying minute pirate bug are often found in insec- tary strips. However, their naturally occur- ring numbers are too small to be realistically used as a biological control. Therefore, the drone program will examine if small releas- es of the beneficial insects into insectary strips help boost and sustain a larger aphid midge or minute pirate bug population. Ice plant, a ubiquitous succulent that often borders cropland on the Central Coast, provides another opportunity to
establish a population of thrip-battling beneficial insects. A drone-based exper- iment to deploy cucumeris mites and minute pirate bugs will study if the pred- ators can survive in ice plant and provide long-term thrip protection. Organic farmers and early IPM adopt- ers already use biological controls on their farms, but the tactic is limited to small- scale applications, often done by hand. Mites or lacewings could require hun- dreds of thousands of insects per acre at
the price of double-digit dollars per acre, Grettenberger said. Drones may be the way to make benefi- cial insects feasible at a large scale. “Drones are a tool, a natural enemy de- ployment tool,” Grettenberger said. “This technology could open up the options to use natural enemies at a larger scale.” (Caitlin Fillmore is a reporter based in Monterey County. She may be contacted at cslhfillmore@gmail.com.)
Abrams emphasized the drone study is still early in its design, and she is exploring variables such as rate of beneficial insects released per acre and age of the plants being treated. Abrams coordinates her research with Parabug, which owns and pilots the drones. “It’s really important for people to al- ways be forward-looking,” Grettenberger said. “To play catch-up is too late, especial- ly in the vegetable industry.” In addition to inundating fields with lab- raised predatory insects, drone technology may also support existing insectary strips. The strips use flowers such as sweet alys- sum to nurture beneficial insects and were historically the only way to attract species such as the syrphid fly to crop fields. The flies, also called hoverflies or flower flies, can eat more than 100 aphids daily. Like syrphid flies, the aphid midge, an Robotic weeders touted as efficient farming solution By Bob Johnson Central Coast vegetable growers are leading the way in adopting new smart technology to save on labor costs. Lettuce grow-
ers widely employ smart-technology cultivators that use cameras and software to remove weeds within the seed line
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
without damaging the crop. “Probably half the growers in the Salinas Valley are using robotic weeders,” Mark Mason, manager of Salinas-based Huntington Farms, noted during the 2024 Automated Technology Field Day at Hartnell College in Salinas. Smart technology that allows weeders to quickly remove weeds within the seed line is just a little more than a decade old. But at the June 27 gathering, representatives for 13 companies turned out to demonstrate high-tech cultivators at work on a weed-in- fested field of lettuce seedlings. The machines kill weeds using a wide variety of methods, including cultivators, herbicides, lasers, steam or hot vegetable oil. They use cameras aided by software to distinguish crops from weeds. Foreign manufacturers attending the technology event said they believe the Central Coast vegetable region is the strongest potential market for their robot- ic weeders. “We just sell in California,” said Sam Lockwood, vice president of technical projects and support for New Zealand- based Weed Spider. The agriculture-tech demonstrations, sponsored by the University of California Cooperative Extension, reflected con- tinuing efforts by the Western Growers See TECHNOLOGY, Page 14
July 24, 2024 Ag Alert 9
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