China Develops Sky-ground Intelligent Monitoring System for Plant Pests, Diseases

An aerial drone photo taken on June 6, 2024 shows a plant protection drone working at a smart planting base in Datonghu District of Yiyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- China has developed a sky-ground intelligent monitoring and early warning system for plant pests and diseases, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The research team has employed self-developed chip-level intelligent pest and disease detection devices and specialized drone remote sensing solutions for low-altitude pest inspections to establish a multi-scale monitoring and warning system.

The "Smart Eye" system enables rapid and precise detection of pests and diseases at the near-ground level, facilitates dynamic monitoring and efficient management at the plot level, and provides multi-scale dynamic monitoring and warning for more than 20 major pests and diseases at the regional level, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute, one of the developers.

"The system can effectively address the challenges of traditional plant protection monitoring techniques, such as difficulties in field surveys and identification, low accuracy in low-altitude monitoring, and weak regional early warning capabilities," said Huang Wenjiang, a researcher at the institute.

The system, combining artificial intelligence technology, aerospace information, and plant protection theory, was recently unveiled at the 5th conference on remote sensing of vegetation pests and diseases held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.