Econometric Evaluation of New Technology with an Application to Integrated Pest Management: Discussion

Gerald A. Carlson

doi:10.2307/1240969

Robotic agricultural instrument for automated extraction of nematode cysts and eggs from soil to improve integrated pest management

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82261-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Christopher M. Legner ◽

Gregory L. Tylka ◽

Santosh Pandey

Keyword(s):

Integrated Pest Management ◽

Pest Management ◽

Soybean Cyst Nematode ◽

Soil Analysis ◽

New Technology ◽

Conventional Technique ◽

Population Densities ◽

Global Food Security ◽

Stage System ◽

Soybean Diseases

AbstractSoybeans are an important crop for global food security. Every year, soybean yields are reduced by numerous soybean diseases, particularly the soybean cyst nematode (SCN). It is difficult to visually identify the presence of SCN in the field, let alone its population densities or numbers, as there are no obvious aboveground disease symptoms. The only definitive way to assess SCN population densities is to directly extract the SCN cysts from soil and then extract the eggs from cysts and count them. Extraction is typically conducted in commercial soil analysis laboratories and university plant diagnostic clinics and involves repeated steps of sieving, washing, collecting, grinding, and cleaning. Here we present a robotic instrument to reproduce and automate the functions of the conventional methods to extract nematode cysts from soil and subsequently extract eggs from the recovered nematode cysts. We incorporated mechanisms to actuate the stage system, manipulate positions of individual sieves using the gripper, recover cysts and cyst-sized objects from soil suspended in water, and grind the cysts to release their eggs. All system functions are controlled and operated by a touchscreen interface software. The performance of the robotic instrument is evaluated using soil samples infested with SCN from two farms at different locations and results were comparable to the conventional technique. Our new technology brings the benefits of automation to SCN soil diagnostics, a step towards long-term integrated pest management of this serious soybean pest.

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Econometric Evaluation of New Technology with an Application to Integrated Pest Management

American Journal of Agricultural Economics ◽

10.2307/1240967 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 66 (5) ◽

pp. 624-633 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Darwin C. Hall ◽

Gregory M. Duncan

Keyword(s):

Integrated Pest Management ◽

Pest Management ◽

New Technology

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Potential Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Strategy for Suppression of Mango Fruit Flies in East Africa: An Ex Ante and Ex Post Analysis in Ethiopia and Kenya

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture10070278 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 278 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Beatrice W. Muriithi ◽

Nancy G. Gathogo ◽

Gracious M. Diiro ◽

Samira A. Mohamed ◽

Sunday Ekesi

Keyword(s):

Integrated Pest Management ◽

Pest Management ◽

New Technology ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Fruit Flies ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Bactrocera Dorsalis ◽

Limited Information ◽

Ex Post ◽

Ex Ante

To sustain agricultural development in Africa, innovative strategies for addressing a myriad of biotic and abiotic constraints facing the agricultural systems must be established. One current biotic stress is the mango infesting fruit flies. In the effort to contain the widely spreading and damaging invasive species of tephritid fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) (Hendel), an area-wide integrated pest management (IPM) program is being promoted in the horticultural sub-sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Such a new technology in which farmers have limited information before commercialization may have diffusion paths that are different from the often-assumed sigmoid (or “s”) shaped curve. We apply the descriptive and econometric analysis of ex ante and ex post integrated fruit fly management used by mango farmers in Kenya and Ethiopia. The results reveal that this technology has a relatively high adoption rate and high prospects for adoption growth in Kenya compared to Ethiopia in the near future.

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Electron investigations of rhabdovirus-like particles in mexican bean beetles and crickets

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100082753 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 378-379

Author(s):

J. R. Adams ◽

G. J Tompkins ◽

A. M. Heimpel ◽

E. Dougherty

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

Integrated Pest Management ◽

Pest Management ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Management Program ◽

Acheta Domesticus ◽

Epilachna Varivestis ◽

House Cricket ◽

Similar Morphology ◽

Bean Beetle

As part of a continual search for potential pathogens of insects for use in biological control or on an integrated pest management program, two bacilliform virus-like particles (VLP) of similar morphology have been found in the Mexican bean beetle Epilachna varivestis Mulsant and the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L. ).Tissues of diseased larvae and adults of E. varivestis and all developmental stages of A. domesticus were fixed according to procedures previously described. While the bean beetles displayed no external symptoms, the diseased crickets displayed a twitching and shaking of the metathoracic legs and a lowered rate of activity.Examinations of larvae and adult Mexican bean beetles collected in the field in 1976 and 1977 in Maryland and field collected specimens brought into the lab in the fall and reared through several generations revealed that specimens from each collection contained vesicles in the cytoplasm of the midgut filled with hundreds of these VLP's which were enveloped and measured approximately 16-25 nm x 55-110 nm, the shorter VLP's generally having the greater width (Fig. 1).

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