Drones and dogs deployed to fight a fungus that’s killing Florida’s avocado trees - TomoNew
- 9 years ago
Researchers in Florida are using dogs and drones in the fight against a disease that is threatening the state’s multimillion dollar avocado industry, as part of a Florida International University program funded by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The disease, laurel wilt, is caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola, and kills more than 90 percent of trees within six weeks of infection. Laurel wilt is vectored by the ambrosia beetle, an invasive species from Asia.
For the project, researchers are testing the use of a drone and dogs to detect the disease before symptoms are visible to the human eye. Using drones allows large areas to be scanned much faster than it would take humans to examine every individual tree.
The drone uses a digital thermal imaging camera to scan areas for infected trees. If a problem area is detected, disease-sniffing dogs are dispatched to confirm the presence of an infection. If the infection is caught early enough, the tree can be saved by treating it with fungicide.
Florida’s avocado industry is worth more than $35 million a year to the state’s economy.
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The disease, laurel wilt, is caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola, and kills more than 90 percent of trees within six weeks of infection. Laurel wilt is vectored by the ambrosia beetle, an invasive species from Asia.
For the project, researchers are testing the use of a drone and dogs to detect the disease before symptoms are visible to the human eye. Using drones allows large areas to be scanned much faster than it would take humans to examine every individual tree.
The drone uses a digital thermal imaging camera to scan areas for infected trees. If a problem area is detected, disease-sniffing dogs are dispatched to confirm the presence of an infection. If the infection is caught early enough, the tree can be saved by treating it with fungicide.
Florida’s avocado industry is worth more than $35 million a year to the state’s economy.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus