KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, US — The National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service $324,000 to develop efficient monitoring systems for insect infestations in grain storage and large-scale food processing facilities.

Advanced automated sensors, insect traps and robotic technologies will work together to identify which pest species are present, determine the location of contaminated areas and generate estimates of pest population sizes in stored corn, wheat, tobacco, hops and other crops. 

An autonomous ground robot also will be developed to acquire data to produce reliable 2-D floor maps of infestations, ensuring control strategies use minimal pesticides and are accurately applied before significant food and financial loss can occur.

“Current detection methods are often inaccurate, time-consuming and labor-intensive,” said Chetan Badgujar, project lead and agricultural engineer with the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science. “Our new devices will provide automated reports of infestations thanks to an advanced robotic-based recognition system that is functional anywhere and with any local insect populations.”

Badgujar will be working with Alison Gerken and Deanna Scheff, researchers at the USDA ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan, Kansas, US.

Research teams will regularly engage with stakeholders, including farm supply stores and grain mills, to conduct tests and cost-benefit analyses that ensure developed technologies are affordable and effective.