Setting bugs against pests in vineyards in South Africa

A South African agricultural drone services provider has partnered with a pest management company to deploy drone technology into the fights against pests in agriculture.

Agricultural drone start-up Aerobotics says with will be working with integrated pest control company FieldBugs to introduce SkyBugs, a collaborative venture that uses drones to drop crop friendly bugs onto fields to set them against pests that can destroy field crops.

The solution is already being tested on a vineyard in the Western Cape, where predatory wasps have been loosed to eradicate pests and outbreaks of leafroll virus.

Vergelegen Wine Estate is a popular wine enterprise in South Africa, and it has partnered with Aerobotics and FieldBugs to drop wasps onto its vineyards.

FieldBugs provides the insects, while Aerobotics supplies the drones which will fly over the estate and facilitate the drop.

Says Aerobotics on its website; “SkyBugs, a collaborative venture with FieldBugs, a leading integrated pest management (IPM) provider, was established to assist farmers in effectively managing pests while minimizing or avoiding the use of pesticides.

“With the advanced capabilities of Aerobotics technology, SkyBugs enhances the distribution of beneficial insects through drones, enabling a quicker and more efficient approach to pest control.

“Additionally, with the AeroView platform, farmers can digitize their agricultural operations, facilitating easier monitoring and management of pest and disease issues.

“FieldBugs currently supplies over fourteen species of natural predators, offering a more sustainable solution to pest control challenges.”

Drones will fly about 30m above the vines, before a “plastic film unfolds, releasing wasp pupae (the stage between larva and adult),” Matt Davis, head of mapping operations at Aerobotics, told CNN.

Around 500 wasps will be released per drop, and the insects are indigenous to South Africa.

The wine estate hopes that the wasps, once fully grown, will destroy mealybugs in the vines. Mealybugs are one of the key culprits in causing leafroll virus, which results in bunches of grapes ripening unevenly and taking a longer time to build up the sugars necessary for winemaking.

According to SkyBugs, the wasp drone method is faster and cheaper than spraying pesticides. The wasps lay eggs inside the mealybugs, eating them from the inside out and diminishing the risk of the virus spreading through the vineyard.

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