Zhongli Pan, Dept. of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis |
 For the last four years, the RRB has studied
how to detect insects in stored rice. This
project has developed a wireless probe that
can detect insect infestations far earlier than typical
human monitoring. A smart probe has been
successfully designed, tested and demonstrated
for insect detection in stored agricultural products.
Up to this point the research has focused on inserting
the probes into the top layer of rice. This
has demonstrated excellent, rapid insect detection
even when human monitors cannot detect any insects.
What has not been determined was if the
top layer of rice was sufficient for monitoring or if
deeper monitoring was required.To accomplish this deeper monitoring, four of the standard 20” probe sections were stacked one on top of another. Each section contained a camera and other data logging equipment. These 80” probes were pressed into the stored rice and monitored. It is believed that insect infestation generally starts from the top layer of rice and gradually moves down to the bottom when the population becomes large. If true, and insect populations can be detected early, then treatment can occur in only the top layer, thus saving treatment costs.
The top layer disinfestation treatment was performed instead of fumigating the entire product. The results showed that this limited, top layer treatment had only about 16% of the chemical cost this year compared to the typical treatment of fumigating all the rice in the facility. It is concluded that the early detection of insect infestation coupled with top layer disinfestation treatment can significantly reduce the chemical use and related costs for pest management. This procedure should also avoid damage of the rice from insects. |
The deeper level, multi-segmented monitoring
was conducted at two commercial rice storage facilities.
Insect activities were observed and environmental
conditions recorded. The results indicated
that the insect infestation started at the top layer of
rice and the insects intended to stay in the top
layer. Based on the observed results of insect activity,
a top-layer disinfestation treatment was conducted
in the early stage of the infestation.