Pests destroy up to 40% of the world's crops each year, causing $220 billion in economic losses, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Trapview is using the power of AI to help deal with the problem.
The Slovenian company has developed a device that traps and identifies pests, and acts as an advance warning system by predicting how they will spread.
"We've built the biggest database of pictures of insects in the world, which allows us to really use modern AI-based computing vision in the most proper way. " says Matej Štefančič, CEO of Trapview and parent company EFOS.
As climate change causes species to spread, and disturbs the migration patterns of highly destructive pests, such as desert locusts (蝗虫), Štefančič hopes to help farmers save their crops with quicker, smarter interventions.
Trapview's devices use chemicals to attract pests, which are photographed by a camera inside. AI cross-references the images against Trapview's database, and is able to identify over 60 species, such as the cotton bollworm (棉铃虫), which can damage lettuce and tomatoes. Once identified, the system incorporates location and weather data, maps out the likely impact of the insect and sends the findings to farmers via an app.
Trapview's app is also able to calculate where and when best to use pesticides (杀虫剂). Štefančič says that Trapview can significantly reduce the use of chemical sprays and the need for farmers to visit their fields. By reducing the emissions generated by farmers driving to their fields, and those associated with the production and transportation of pesticides, the technology can also help the climate, he claims.
Trapview says it has sold over 7, 500 devices in more than 50 countries since it launched in 2012. It has focused on Italy, France, Spain, the United States and Brazil, targeting crops as varied as grapes, tomatoes, olives, tree fruits and cotton.
