Agritech comprises a vital segment for the use of sensors and the Dutch company PATS recently secured 2.7 million Euros ($3.2 million) in seed funding (pun intended) to fight flying pests, including certain moths, in greenhouses.
The company, founded in 2018, came out of Delft University of Technology and uses real time tracking and predictive analytics that rely on cameras, sensors and drones. It has already installed the system in 25 countries globally. The first test was with Gerbera Daisy growers who were having trouble with a moth infestation.
The company plans to use the funding to refine its real-time tracking of flying pests in an automated scanner called PATS-C and monitoring of insect activity on sticky traps called Trap-Eye. PATS is also planning to integrate drones into its PATS-X system to catch insects before they spread. Other products are called PATS-Vinder and PATS-Kalendar to help predict pest outbreaks and support intervention planning.
Smart pest management technology is expected to exceed 2 billion Euros by 2030, according to PATS.
The company started its work when founders were alarmed that greenhouse pest control methods were often polluting and expensive but also ineffective.
The company’s website shows drone testing underway in Netherlands and Belgium called PATS-X. It uses an infrared camera in a small station installed in a greenhouse to detect a malicious insect and then an automated drone flies to hunt it down. The drones are automated to fly just enough times to keep insects under a certain level. One video shows a drone flying with batlike precision and colliding with a moth using its propellers to eradicate the moth in a tiny explosion of moth-dust.
Trap-Eye is a sticky trap equipped with a tiny camera that takes real-time snapshots of the insects that stick to the glue, sending information back to the system.
PATS has acquired insights about insect species, flying patterns and insect behaviors that are compared with real-time behaviors in greenhouses for various commercial growers.
On the PATS website, customer stories attest to the value of PATS-C. Martin de Bruijn, head of cultivation at LG Flowers in the Netherlands, said the company has used PATS-C to gain 24/7 insights for four years in monitoring airborne insects. The scanner camera tracks both pest and beneficial insect populations and transmits the data to a dashboard for growers to consult.
Bac Orchids, also in the Netherlands, has relied on PATS-C scanning to view the cycles of new generations of insects and monitor them at night to develop a new strategy to combat pests with precision. Before, the company used only UV light traps that needed to be checked individually. The result has been a reduction to a 5% crop loss through insect damage.
PATS-Vinder builds on the power of PATS-C with an AI-based prediction tool, being used by Alvonto in three Dutch locations for tomato cultivation. The predictions help the company time its insect treatment interventions.
