"Pest Numbers Also Increasing"…NIAST Develops 'AI Unmanned Surveillance and Capture Device'

Video (Image) Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence Technology
Identification of Moth and Stink Bug Species and Capture Volume

The Rural Development Administration announced on the 8th that, through joint research with Gunsan University and BNS Corporation, it has developed an AI-based 'Unmanned Monitoring and Trapping Device (AI Trap)' that attracts field crop pests in open fields to monitor their occurrence status.

The unmanned monitoring and trapping device uses sex attractants (sex pheromones) to lure and capture pests, and the AI recognizes the captured images to analyze the pest species and their numbers. Environmental sensors attached inside the trapping device can check temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and illuminance, and can also track the direction of pest inflow. The collected information (data) can be checked or controlled through a separate trapping device control system.

Currently, it can monitor three species: the soybean pod borer, the tobacco budworm, and the red-shouldered stink bug, which damage soybeans. The Rural Development Administration plans to expand the application range in the future and add a function to notify the timing of pest control by linking with the trapping device control system.

An official from the Rural Development Administration explained, "As a result of field verification by the research team over the past two years, the normal video reception and capture quantity determination accuracy of the unmanned monitoring and trapping device is over 90%, similar to existing trapping devices. Compared to the conventional labor-intensive monitoring where people visit observation plots to investigate pest occurrence, it can reduce labor hours and costs, thus increasing field applicability."

According to the Rural Development Administration, replacing the existing manual device method with unmanned monitoring can save about 200 labor hours per investigation point annually and reduce costs by 10.77 million KRW (approximately 53 million KRW over 5 years). Early monitoring and timely pest control are also expected to reduce crop damage and contribute to improving food security.

Jung Byung-woo, head of the Southern Crop Division at the National Institute of Crop Science under the Rural Development Administration, said, "The unmanned monitoring and trapping device allows real-time confirmation of pest occurrence and is a useful technology for interpreting pest movement routes by linking with environmental information (data). We will strive to ensure this technology is utilized at observation plots in each region and to use it as an individual element technology of open-field smart agriculture, connecting it to automated pest control."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.