Biological crop protection in the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge

With an algorithm, you can autonomously control a greenhouse crop from small plant to mature crop. However, current technological resources do not allow you to monitor pests remotely and manage them with pest control, says Denise Huyskes. “It all needs to be done manually. I do that by scouting. This involves walking through the greenhouse checking for diseases and pests on the crops. These range from flies and lice to fungi. I then see how an infestation can be managed with chemical or biological crop protection."

Pest control part of Challenge

This year, crop protection - also known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - was part of the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge for the first time. Huyskes: "In previous challenges, the focus was mainly on the technology relating to crop development. This year, we wanted to add a learning element. We opted for biological crop protection. To guide teams in this, we joined forces with Biobest consultants and producers to develop a programme. We also devised a kind of challenge within the Challenge, in which teams could earn points for crop protection. These points were 20 percent of the final score."

Scout advice whitefly

One of the threats to the dwarf tomato, the crop grown by the teams during the Challenge, is the whitefly, says Huyskes. "This fly lays eggs on the leaves. Frass is another threat, causing sooty mould on the leaves which can stunt plant growth. During the challenge, whitefly was actually present in the greenhouses. Every Tuesday, I went into the greenhouses to scout them. The number of whiteflies was also monitored via the Trap-Eye. This system takes pictures of traps on which the pests stick. I then entered all this data on Biobest's scout app."

Points for giving correct advice

Teams were then given until noon on Thursday to indicate the type and quantity of biological crop control they wanted to use. Huyskes: "They could choose between two types of parasitic wasps and using a predatory bug. Based on my own expertise, I calculated which species and how many of them could best be used to tackle whitefly. Teams earned points if their scouting advice matched mine. It is very important to use the correct type and quantity of pest control. For example, using too many predatory bugs can damage crops. And if you use too few, the infestation can spread."

Detecting moths and butterflies

Apart from whiteflies, another threat in the greenhouse was also monitored, namely the presence of moths and butterflies. This was done using PATS-C, a camera system specialising in monitoring in the dark. Huyskes: “These insects tend to be active at night. The caterpillars of butterflies and moths feed on the leaves of a plant. The teams also included biological control for these insects in their scouting advice. However, no points were earned for this. It was mainly intended as an extra educational component."

Improving performance

Huyskes noticed that the teams’ performance in pest control improved as the Challenge progressed. "In the first weeks, they were still finding their way and didn't really know what to do. That produced some very strange advice with far too little or conversely too much pest control. As a result, I gave very few or no points for the first few times. But gradually the participants started to get the idea how it all worked. That was mainly because I shared my advice from the weeks before with them. Towards the end of the Challenge, I was therefore regularly able to give them full marks. I found that learning curve really interesting and fun.”