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Tech vs. Pests: How Drones Are Changing the Game in Pest Management

Daniel Kim Views  

A decades-long war remains unresolved
Not easy with conventional methods due to the high rate of reproduction
Drones can quickly identify problem areas
Development is underway for attack drones that directly spray pesticides

A boy walks through a swarm of desert locusts in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 12, 2020 (local time). Sanaa/Xinhua Newsis

For decades, swarms of locusts have threatened global food security. Despite humanity’s efforts to harness all available technology to eradicate them, the same problem reoccurs year after year.

The Economist reported that drones’ recent emergence as a new weapon has raised hopes of victory in the long-standing battle with locusts.

The most devastating pest affecting the global agricultural industry is Schistocerca gregaria, also known as the desert locust. These tiny swarms eat enough leaves to feed 35,000 humans for a day. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), five active locust movements in countries around the Red Sea have occurred this month alone.

The problem lies in their rapid reproduction rate. Given the right conditions, 1,000 locusts can multiply to 20,000 within three months and 160 million within a year. For instance, a large-scale reproduction in the Arabian Peninsula in 2018 affected Tanzania and Iran over three years.

The only method humans have to eliminate them is by spraying pesticides. People have traveled the desert looking for burrows on foot or by truck to spray pesticides. In severe cases, pesticides were even sprayed from airplanes. However, these methods have been inefficient, consuming more time and resources than necessary, and particularly limited in conflict-ridden areas. In 2018, Yemen, which was practically in a state of anarchy due to civil war, could not control the breeding desert locusts, spreading locust swarms to 12 neighboring countries.

The locust surveillance drone, dLocust, jointly developed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Hemav Foundation, a Spanish non-profit organization, is being launched. Source: FAO website

Amidst this, as drone technology advances, it has emerged as a new alternative to combat locust swarms. The advantage of drones is their ability to survey larger areas quickly. In response, the FAO and Spanish non-profit organization Hemav jointly designed a portable drone called dLocust that resembles a stealth bomber. This drone is designed to autonomously capture high-resolution images of farmland while flying up to 50 miles. If it detects suspicious farmland during its flight, it takes a picture and sends it to the operator’s tablet or smartphone. The operator then visits the identified area to take action. Currently, 23 drones are operating mainly across Africa.

An agricultural drone is being demonstrated in Gaborone, Botswana, on August 13, 2021. Gaborone/Xinhua Newsis

Development is also underway for attack drones to combat locust swarms. A research team in Kenya is testing a drone that flies directly over the pests and sprays pesticides. Their main focus is determining the optimal height for pesticide dispersion. Spraying from an altitude too high reduces efficiency due to wind, while spraying too low can result in the waste of some pesticides.

However, concerns have been raised about the potential adverse effects of the pesticides sprayed by drones on humans and the ecosystem. The Economist explained, “In Ethiopia, the pesticides could potentially kill or threaten billions of honeybees,” adding that “better chemical substances are needed for drone dispersion.”

Daniel Kim
content@viewusglobal.com

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