Laser-based pest control with LichtFalle

Laser-based pest control can be a building block for sustainable plant protection – and an important step towards digitalization of food production. Laser technology can be used with lure trap systems such as LED light panels or yellow sticky traps to remove pest insects from crops with high selectivity.

The difference from classic yellow sticky traps is the AI-supported, automated differentiation of insect species based on image data. An integrated camera module monitors the LED surface and automatically recognizes whether it is a pest or beneficial insect. This allows all harmless insects and especially beneficial insects to leave the lure panel unharmed without laser treatment.

Motivation

• Reduction in the use of chemical pesticides
• Enable more efficient and resource-conserving food production
• Development of a digital decision-making tool for the use of plant protection products and other control strategies thanks to live monitoring

Applications

• In greenhouses
• In open fields

Advantages

• Only selected pest insects are treated; beneficial insects are protected
• Live monitoring of different insects in the crop stand
• Targeted attraction of specific insects
• Particularly high attraction effect thanks to LED technology
• Targeted deployment of the light trap in areas with high pest occurrence