South Korea Automated Pest Traps Allows Smart Farming On Islands

Climate change presents a variety of challenges to farmers, one being new kinds of pests.

South Korea has been monitoring closely for the appearance of new pests, which is a labor-intensive endeavor.

Thankfully, researchers have developed a way to check for them remotely using traps that work autonomously.

At this tomato farm, the leaves on some of the plants have been damaged by pests.

Insect traps have been set up throughout the farm.

Some of the insect traps have a solar powered device attached.

These traps hold 40 adhesive strips that are automatically replaced.

This allows farmers to leave the traps for up to 9 months, saving them time and effort.

Also, attached to the devices are high-resolution cameras that send images of the pests to the farmers’ mobile phones or computers.

Test results of this new ‘automatic pest predicting trap’ developed by the Rural Development Administration show they reduce labor and other costs by 60% compared to traditional traps.

It is also significantly more effective because not only can different traps can be installed depending on the cultivation crop and environment, but adjustments and monitoring can be done remotely.

The pest attacks can be forecasted and controlled remotely.

This kind of monitoring allows smart farming on islands or remote areas through an agricultural network in the metropolitan cities.