There is a “mega ag-tech” sector for all agricultural and urban environments. Hardware, software and apps are all essential and, of course, must be integrated with many existing scientific databases. Precision at a microscopic level is imperative.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, to the ag tech cognoscenti.
How important is IPM? “Without pest management society falls apart.”
I’d write that again, but you can go back and read it. OK, you’re asking, who said that? Brian Leahy, director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), who manages the planet’s leading pesticide regulatory agency and the largest cadre of scientists in state service (400-plus). Leahy is also a former pioneering organic farmer.
Pesticides, as you may have noticed, have been headline news — the most recent event is CDPR’s new “School Rule,” which regulates usage of ag pesticides near schools and day-care facilities. Information here: http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pressrls/2017/031617.htm
This is the point of IPM: Pesticide application is just one tool among many. If you Google “pesticide” you get 41.1 million entries … but best begin your learning here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/menu.homegarden.html
Leahy and the IPM folks at UC Division of Ag and Natural Resources (ANR) collaborate continuously on controlling pests, be they vertebrates, invertebrates, weeds or plant diseases.
Invasive species are the most sinister and costly pests. These are new to California and thus meet with minimum natural resistance. Consider the glassy-winged sharpshooter, which a decade ago threatened to decimate wine grapes, or the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), which carries a disease that would wipe out citrus (and has in Florida).
In fact, the USDA declared April to be Invasive Pest Month (Who knew?): http://plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov/wordpress/?p=12732
This is where you can help … and make money.
At the field level, more sophisticated apps are needed to identify teeny-tiny critters and wind-borne spores. Interactive platforms with scientists would be a good thing.
Pesticide selection, timing and application methodology is another fertile area. And not all pesticides are human-made; there are organic versions. Factors include crop, region, weather and season.
True IPM too. UC ANR advisers and researchers have methodologies and natural solutions (like, say, cover crops to host beneficial insects and provide nutrients). But a busy farmer may not be aware or have time to dig up and then calibrate the latest IPM.
“The chemistry is intense,” Leahy said. “There is no gentle way to kill things. You need the right pesticide at the right time in the right place at the right amount. It all must be done perfectly.”
Now you better understand ag precision and prescription.
And now we come to where the big money might be made.
Ideally, your ag tech IPM innovations transfer to hobby farmers and home gardeners, who account for far more pesticide applications than growers, Leahy said, and who could be among the first to spot pests. Backyard citrus, for example, is already a host to the ACP.
“Technology and biology prevent negative outcomes,” Leahy added.
