PROJECTS

Eyes on Traps

Smart monitoring system to prevent pests and diseases in olive groves

Wine production in the Douro Wine Region is one of the most important economic sectors in this region, also contributing decisively to the national economy and to the recognition of the country through one of its most iconic products, Port wine. One of the threats to viticulture in this region, in a context of climate change, is related to the appearance of pests, which, in addition to affecting the quality of the grape, can transmit quarantine diseases, which seriously compromise the viability of this crop.

The unpredictability of this threat and the difficulty in monitoring the degree of risk make it difficult to define effective strategies that minimize the number of phytosanitary treatments to be applied. Insect monitoring is currently carried out using traps that attract these insects and subsequently allow their identification. However, counting and distinguishing insects in traps is a manual task that consumes time and resources, for which digital data with sufficient geographical distribution do not exist.

Insect recognition also requires the contribution of specialists in taxonomy, especially in chromotropic traps, making the process, and consequently the diagnostic method, sluggish, watertight and susceptible to errors. This scenario motivated the definition of the EYESonTRAPSproject, which proposes the development of a mobile solution for pest prevention, which supports localized temperature recording, automatic monitoring of insects in traps and the recommendation of treatments to combat identified threats, in a way to decrease human error and maximize the analysis process.

The system will also be designed in a modular and scalable way to support the detection of new pests, allowing the identification of species not considered in the project in the future.

The differentiated detection and automatic counting of emerging pests and diseases is a problem that has yet to be resolved. This project’s mission is to develop technology and knowledge that will allow it to respond to determining factors for the prevention and control of phytosanitary emergencies, particularly in the DDR, serving as support for decision-making in sustainable viticulture, positioning phytosanitary treatments as low as possible spectrum of action and respecting biodiversity.

More information

Acronym: EYESonTRAPS
Beginning: 01/09/2019
End: 01/08/2022
Overall budget: 410.600,02 €
Status: Ongoing
Closing Date:
Financing: 148.330,40 €
Incentive Program: Co-Promotion I&DT Project – NORTE 2020
Responsible: Telmo Nogueira

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EYES ON TRAPS