Detect Pests and Diseases

Most pests and diseases can be anticipated. You just need the right data.

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The fungi, bacteria and insects that attack crops do not appear at random: they develop when the right weather conditions occur. Temperature, air humidity and hours of leaf wetness are the variables that determine the risk. With sensors in your farm, you can see it coming.

The real problem

Treating by the calendar is expensive. Not treating in time is even more.

Phytosanitary management in most farms works like this: treatments are applied on fixed dates, by tradition or by a preventive calendar, regardless of whether the actual conditions do or do not favor the appearance of the problem. The result is that you treat more when it is not necessary, and sometimes you treat late when it is necessary.

Plant protection products have a significant direct cost. But they also have an indirect cost: resistance, impact on beneficial fauna, residues in the final product and increasing demands from destination markets. Each unnecessary application is a cost that could have been avoided.

The key is knowing when conditions favor the development of a pathogen or pest, and acting at that moment with sound judgment, not before or after.

Which variables determine the risk

Your farm’s climate as a prediction tool.

Relative humidity and air temperature

Most fungi and bacteria that affect crops need a specific combination of temperature and high humidity for a certain number of hours to develop and infect. Knowing those conditions in real time in your own plot allows you to know when the risk scenario has occurred.

Leaf wetness

The hours during which the leaf is wet are the factor most directly related to the risk of fungal infection. Prolonged dew or rain followed by warm temperature are the classic conditions for the development of downy mildew, botrytis, alternaria and other pathogens. The relative humidity and temperature sensor automatically calculates the hours of leaf wetness.

Thermal integral and pest cycles

Insect pests also respond to temperature. Each species needs to accumulate a certain amount of heat to move from one stage of its life cycle to the next. By monitoring the accumulated temperature from the start of the season, it is possible to estimate when an insect will move to the adult or reproductive stage, and schedule treatments at the most effective time.

Rain and wet periods

Rain activates spores, disperses inoculum and creates the humidity conditions that many pathogens need to germinate. Knowing exactly when and how much it has rained in your plot makes it possible to correlate rain events with actual phytosanitary risks.

What you can do with that information

Treat at the right time, not by the calendar.

Identify real risk windows

With continuous data on temperature, relative humidity and leaf wetness, you can see when the conditions that favor infection have occurred. This allows you to focus monitoring and treatments on those moments, instead of treating every certain number of days regardless of the conditions.

Reduce the number of applications without increasing risk

Many farms that start monitoring the climate discover that part of their preventive treatments were applied under conditions that did not favor infection. Reducing those applications means direct savings in product and labor, without compromising crop protection.

Choose the best time to apply

Data on wind, temperature and humidity allow you to choose the optimal windows for application: without gusts that disperse the product, with a suitable temperature for the effectiveness of the plant protection product and with no rain forecast in the following hours.

How we do it with Plantae

The products that make this solution possible.

This solution is mainly based on Plantae’s relative humidity and ambient temperature sensor, which automatically calculates the most relevant variables for phytosanitary management. It is complemented by the rain gauge, the solar radiation sensor and, in some cases, by satellite imagery for a more complete view of the crop status.

Who this solution is for

For any farm that wants to spend less on treatments and better protect the crop.

Crops with high pressure from fungal diseases

Grapevine, tomato, pepper, lettuce, strawberries and other crops where downy mildew, botrytis, alternaria or powdery mildew are recurring threats. In these crops, anticipating by a few days can make the difference between an effective preventive treatment and a more expensive and less effective curative treatment.

Farms in areas with humid climate or sprinkler irrigation

Prolonged humidity conditions are the main risk factor for most fungal diseases. In areas with frequent rainfall or on farms with sprinkler irrigation or that generate leaf wetness, continuous monitoring is especially valuable.

Integrated or organic production technicians

In integrated or organic production systems, where the number of allowed treatments is limited and the available products are more restrictive, deciding well when to treat is especially critical. Climate data from the farm itself are the basis for making those decisions with sound judgment.

FAQs

What we are usually asked.

Does the sensor tell me directly when there is a risk of pest or disease?

The sensor gives you the climate data — temperature, relative humidity, leaf wetness, rain — which are the variables that determine the risk. The interpretation of that data for each crop and each specific problem is done by the technician or agronomic advisor. Plantae also offers agronomic advisory services if you need them.

For which diseases is it most useful?

For fungal diseases that depend on humidity and temperature conditions: downy mildew, botrytis, powdery mildew, alternaria, anthracnose. Also to anticipate pest cycles whose development depends on accumulated temperature.

Do I need technical knowledge to interpret the data?

No. The data are displayed in clear graphs in Plantae Manager. The agronomic advisor can interpret them directly, and the farmer can easily see whether risk conditions have occurred. Plantae also offers advisory services to help with interpretation.

Can I combine this data with soil data?

Yes. All Plantae sensors send their data to the same dashboard, where they can be viewed in an integrated way. The combination of climate and soil data provides a much more complete picture of the state of the farm.

How much does it cost?

The price depends on the devices and configuration. Contact the team for a no-obligation quote.

Treat when it is necessary. Not out of habit.

Tell us about your crop and the most frequent phytosanitary problems. We help you define which sensors you need to anticipate them.