When you say that many computer scientists are researching how to stop a bug, it could be referring to computer malfunctions and other issues. When Dr. Sajal Das of S&T, Missouri, says this, he talks about raw-ria flying creatures that torture farm operations.
DAS, a well-known curator and professor of computer science at Missouri S&T, was recently awarded a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop automated pest management systems for rural farms.
“Insects like beetles and aphids can damage large amounts of crops when their presence is not detected and mitigated immediately, but catching up can be expensive and draining for farmers,” says Das. “This is a problem that can help with technology to solve and could save a large portion of crop yields that may otherwise not be available on the market.”
According to DAS, his research team has been working on agricultural-related issues over the past five years and received a $1.5 million multicenter grant from the NSF in 2022. With that federal support, his team developed a pest management system that includes a sticky pest trap with sensors, insects and cameras that detect insects with internet-connected devices.
Information collected by multiple sensors located around the farm is received and transmitted via a low-power, long-range radio frequency-based communications system that uses drones to deliver information over long distances. This removes the need for high-speed wireless internet. This is often not available in rural areas.
The farm has edge computing devices. This means that data is processed locally and uses machine learning to provide real-time insights and alerts to farmers. The collected information is also stored on cloud servers to help you continually build the strongest possible dataset for future machine learning and high-precision predictions.
“We expect farmers to significantly optimize local pesticide use by precision agriculture, as they allow for more targeted, real-time interventions rather than chemical blanket applications,” says Das.
Dr. Vishesh Tanwar, a research team and co-investigator, co-investigator, said the application of the technology will expand beyond insect mitigation and will ultimately be applicable to a variety of agricultural businesses.
“Our work is essential to combating the insect plague that corn, soybeans and other premium and row crop farmers face, but the benefits don’t stop there,” he says. “This system tracks issues such as disease, soil conditions, weeds, weather patterns, and how they affect crops, especially yield and quality. What we are developing can be applied to virtually any crop.
Tanwar believes that the research team’s current grants are three years and that the technology will be deployed on more and more farms as the project progresses.
“This project has come a long way since its inception several years ago. Our team cannot wait to see where we will go in the future to alleviate global food anxiety,” he says.
Other co-investigators on the project include Dr. Ian Kaplan, a professor of entomology at Purdue University, and Dr. Jeffrey Stein, a science-led centre at Bayer’s Center for Plant Biotechnology. Microsoft is also a partner and provides digital farming tools used in the system.
For more information about Missouri S&T’s computer science programs, see Cs.mst.edu.
About Missouri S&T
The University of Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students in Laura, Missouri. According to the Wall Street Journal, Missouri S&T is part of the University of Missouri Systems Systems, offering over 100 degrees in 40 learning areas, and is one of the nation’s top public universities in terms of pay impact. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.
