Scouting in the greenhouse is entering a new era with the introduction of cameras that automatically detect, count and identify insect pests using advanced software. At Duijvestijn Tomaten Next in Pijnacker, the high-tech tools Crop-Scanner™, Trap-Eye™ and PATS-C from Biobest have been tested for almost a year. Remy van Haaster, Crop Protection Specialist at Duijvestijn, sees great potential. "As more crop protection products disappear in the future, accurate scouting will become increasingly important."
The discussion on digital scouting and high-tech IPM brings together Sam Gui, Stijn van Beek and Marvin Koot from Biobest, alongside Remy van Haaster of Duijvestijn Tomaten, once recognised as the world's best tomato grower. The digital scouting tools developed by Biobest for greenhouse horticulture have been tested at the Pijnacker site since last year. Although the tools were officially launched in September this year, the product is never truly finished, acknowledges Gui, who is responsible for Business Development. His vision is clear: digitalisation will fundamentally change the way crops are scouted.
"Manual scouting in the greenhouse will always remain essential," he says. "But scouts will increasingly be supported by digital assistants that make their work easier, more targeted and more efficient."
Automatic counting
Crop-Scanner™ is a platform designed to digitise scouting observations. Using the app on a smartphone or tablet, growers can walk through the greenhouse, record what they observe and upload the information directly to the cloud-based platform. Results can then be reviewed and discussed with colleagues or advisors, even when they are not on-site.
Part of Crop-Scanner™ is Trap-Scanner™, which enables growers to automatically count insects on sticky traps using their smartphone camera.
Van Haaster explains:
"We have sticky traps hanging throughout the greenhouse to monitor whiteflies. We count them and enter the numbers into Crop-Scanner™. Previously, we wrote everything down on paper before transferring it into an Excel spreadsheet. Now everything is done directly on your phone. If you find a spider mite hotspot, you can immediately record its location and indicate whether the infestation is light or severe. We also use delta traps for moths in the greenhouse, and those monitoring results can be entered as well."
"As more crop protection products disappear, accurate scouting will become increasingly important"
Human vs machine
Pest observations can easily be digitised using a smartphone or tablet. Alternatively, growers can use Trap-Eye™, a camera that automatically photographs sticky traps at fixed intervals. According to Gui, this improves both the accuracy and consistency of insect counts.
In addition, PATS-C uses an infrared video camera to detect moth activity above the crop during the night. Images captured by both Trap-Eye™ and Trap-Scanner™ are analysed by an algorithm before being visualised within the Crop-Scanner™ platform.
When it comes to counting accuracy, the difference between people and machines is significant. Human accuracy averages around 65%, while the software consistently achieves 88 to 90%.
"That said, one person is naturally more accurate than another," says Gui. "The more time someone spends counting, the more accurate the results become. The software performs the counts within seconds and immediately compares them with the previous week's results. That's why we recommend using cameras, especially if you want to compare weekly counts over time."
Continuously improving the algorithm
Insects that do not fly or land on sticky traps will still need to be monitored manually, explains Marvin Koot.
"Think of spider mites, tomato russet mites or aphids. While both winged and wingless aphids exist, crop damage is mainly caused by the wingless forms. So, alongside Trap-Eye™ and PATS-C, manual scouting for these pests will remain essential. Flying insects that are traditionally monitored on sticky traps, such as whiteflies, can already be monitored digitally."
In addition to whiteflies, the system can detect Macrolophus, Tuta absoluta, Nesidiocoris, thrips and leaf miners. Leaf miners remain more challenging, particularly under low-light conditions, Gui adds.
"Across all insect species, we already see that the system is more accurate than a person. But development never stops. We continuously release updates as we encounter new situations. For example, we discovered that particles of sawdust were occasionally identified as whiteflies. We're currently retraining the algorithm to filter those out. The more data we collect, the better the algorithm becomes."
The Biobest advisor supporting Van Haaster can also monitor the greenhouse remotely, allowing visits to be used more efficiently.
Koot explains:
"That creates focus. Trap-Eye™ units are fitted with two magnets, making them easy to attach to a greenhouse post. It's important that each camera remains in a fixed position so we can accurately monitor trends over time. Our research shows that 40 Trap-Eye™ units per hectare provide an excellent representation of flying insect activity throughout the greenhouse. For PATS-C, one or two cameras per hectare are sufficient to obtain a reliable picture of moth activity. After just a few weeks, enough data has been collected for the system to serve as a dependable indicator."
User-friendly
Van Haaster describes Crop-Scanner™ as a user-friendly system, although his experience with it is still relatively limited.
"As more crop protection products disappear in the future, accurate scouting will only become more important. We already rely as much as possible on biological control. The earlier we detect a problem, the sooner we can introduce beneficials and prevent a pest from getting out of control. These new digital tools also make our profession much more interesting. They provide a much clearer overview, which ultimately leads to better insights."
The amount of labour that digital scouting can save depends on several factors, explains Van Beek.
"It depends on the amount of counting required and the time spent walking from one sticky trap to another. Equally important are the standardisation, accuracy and comparability of data across different locations. Ultimately, the more precise advice we can provide enables growers to use crop protection products more efficiently while making the best possible use of biological control. Within two years, we'll know whether this translates into measurable benefits in practice. Our expectation is that digital scouting will become the standard across all vegetable production within five years."
Source: KAS Magazine