Detection of Ecballium elaterium in hedgerow olive orchards using a low-cost uncrewed aerial vehicle and open-source algorithms

BACKGROUND

Ecballium elaterium (common name: squirting cucumber) is an emerging weed problem in hedgerow or superintensive olive groves under no tillage. It colonizes the inter-row area infesting the natural or sown cover crops, and is considered a hard-to-control weed. Research in other woody crops has shown E. elaterium has a patchy distribution, which makes this weed susceptible to design a site-specific control strategy only addressed to E. elaterium patches. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a methodology based on the analysis of imagery acquired with an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) to detect and map E. elaterium infestations in hedgerow olive orchards.

RESULTS

The study was conducted in two superintensive olive orchards, and the images were taken using a UAV equipped with an RGB sensor. Flights were conducted on two dates: in May, when there were various weeds infesting the orchard, and in September, when E. elaterium was the only infesting weed. UAV-orthomosaics in the first scenario were classified using random forest models, and the orthomosaics from September with E. elaterium as the only weed, were analyzed using an unsupervised algorithm. In both cases, the overall accuracies were over 0.85, and the producer's accuracies for E. elaterium ranged between 0.74 and 1.00.

CONCLUSION

These results allow the design of a site-specific and efficient herbicide control protocol which would represent a step forward in sustainable weed management. The development of these algorithms in free and open-source software fosters their application in small and medium farms. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Genetic basis and origin of resistance to acetolactate synthase inhibitors in Amaranthus palmeri from Spain and Italy

BACKGROUND

Amaranthus palmeri is an aggressive annual weed native to the United States, which has become invasive in some European countries. Populations resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors have been recorded in Spain and Italy, but the evolutionary origin of the resistance traits remains unknown. Bioassays were conducted to identify cross-resistance to ALS inhibitors and a haplotype-based genetic approach was used to elucidate the origin and distribution of resistance in both countries.

RESULTS

Amaranthus palmeri populations were resistant to thifensulfuron-methyl and imazamox, and the 574-Leu mutant ALS allele was found to be the main cause of resistance among them. In two Spanish populations, 376-Glu and 197-Thr mutant ALS alleles were also found. The haplotype analyses revealed the presence of two and four distinct 574-Leu mutant haplotypes in the Italian and Spanish populations, respectively. None was common to both countries, but some mutant haplotypes were shared between geographically close populations or between populations more than 100 km apart. Wide genetic diversity was found in two very close Spanish populations.

CONCLUSION

ALS-resistant A. palmeri populations were introduced to Italy and Spain from outside Europe. Populations from both countries have different evolutionary histories and originate from independent introduction events. ALS resistance then spread over short and long distances by seed dispersal. The higher number and genetic diversity among mutant haplotypes from the Spanish populations indicated recurrent invasions. The implementation of control tactics to limit seed dispersal and the establishment of A. palmeri is recommended in both countries. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

On Determinative Parameters of SDOF Systems in Elasto- plastic Earthquake Response

Parameters dominating elasto- plastic earthquake response of SDOF systems,relation between ground motion amplitude and elasto- plastic response of SDOF systems are presented in this paper.     

基于三维点云的蔬菜大棚杂草识别方法

为实现蔬菜大棚内自动化除草的目的,针对其中的杂草识别环节,提出了一种基于三维点云的新型蔬菜大棚杂草识别方法。采用RGB-D相机获取青菜田、生菜田的三维点云图像,采用超绿色算法去除其中的土壤等背景,采用体素滤波法在保留点云图像形状特征的同时降低点云数量,然后采用欧式聚类法分割出单株青菜和单棵杂草的点云簇,分别计算得到每个点云簇的最高点的Z坐标值,最后结合深度信息Z坐标值实现蔬菜大棚杂草识别。结果表明:这种基于三维点云的杂草识别方法能够有效的识别出杂草,识别率为86.48%。该方法能够对蔬菜大棚中的杂草进行准确识别,为蔬菜大棚自动化除草提供有效的解决方案。     

机插秧稻田二次封闭控草应用技术

稻田草害是机插秧生产中最严重的问题。传统水稻田"一封二杀三补"控草策略策略已经不能适应机插秧的除草要求。本文综合小区试验和大区示范,针对不同栽培条件下的土壤和杂草情况,提出"二封一补"的除草对策。3年试验示范结果表明,土地平整后插秧前使用57%苄·丙·异丙隆可湿性粉剂1 500~1 800 g/hm~2进行第1次封闭处理,插秧后10 d用50%苄·丁·异丙隆可湿性粉剂1 200~1 500 g/hm~2进行第2次封闭,既能有效控制早期杂草为害,保证秧苗安全,又能延长对杂草持续控制作用,提高水稻产量。在2次封闭基础上,针对不平整地块和烤田后抗性杂草发生情况,提出相对应的补治措施。     

28％苄嘧磺隆·二氯喹啉酸WP对水稻秧田杂草及产量的影响

研究了28％苄嘧磺隆·二氯喹啉酸对水稻秧田稗草[Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.]、鸭舌草[Monochoia vaginalis(Burm.f.)]等的防除效果,并测定了杂草对氮、磷、钾和水分的影响以及对水稻产量的影响.结果表明,28％苄嘧磺隆·二氯喹啉酸WP对水稻秧田的主要杂草具有良好的防治效果,有效成分用量为168～420 g/hm2的28％苄嘧磺隆·二氯喹啉酸对水稻秧田稗草密度防效和鲜重防效分别为84.06％～98.50％、91.55％～98.63％,对鸭舌草的密度防效和鲜重防效分别为94.06％～100.00％、90.94％～100.00％,显著优于对照药剂10％苄嘧磺隆WP和50％二氯喹啉酸WP.28％苄嘧磺隆·二氯喹啉酸施用后,增产效果总体优于对照药剂,在水稻秧田具有良好的推广前景.     

Herbicide savings and economic benefits of several strategies to control Sorghum halepense in maize crops

This study was conducted to assess the herbicide savings and the cost efficiency of site-specific herbicide application strategies in comparison with other strategies based on uniform application of herbicides throughout the whole field. The specific situation considered was Sorghum halepense infested maize fields in Spain. The results from a theoretical economic model were contrasted with the information derived from a S. halepense survey conducted in 37 commercial maize fields distributed over three Spanish maize production areas. Seven application strategies were simulated: 1) no herbicide; 2) overall full-rate; 3) overall half-rate; 4) and 5) site-specific spraying infested cells with full- and half-rate, respectively; 6) and 7) site-specific spraying infested cells plus adjacent buffer areas with full- and half-rate, respectively. The simulation results showed that site-specific weed management was the most profitable strategy when S. halepense infested area ranged between 6.5 and 18.7%. This scenario was present in 22% of the surveyed fields. In fields with less than 6.5% infestation (a situation present in 51% of the surveyed fields), yield losses were slight and the most profitable strategy was using no herbicide. When the infested area ranged between 18.7 and 40.8% (19% of the surveyed fields), no significant differences were observed between the net benefits of the various strategies. Full rate herbicide applications throughout the entire field resulted in the highest net returns in fields with more than 40.8% weed infestation (8% of the surveyed fields). In these cases, the added costs of weed detection, mapping and site-specific herbicide application were not justified by the herbicide savings obtained. Likewise, herbicide savings obtained with the various strategies depended on the proportion of the field infested. Considering the high difference between site-specific treatments and uniform application of herbicides when the infested area ranged between 18.7 and 40.8%, and that no significant differences in net returns were observed in this range, site-specific treatments should be preferred. Adding a buffer area to the site-specific treatments does not seem a suitable strategy due to the considerable increases in costs and reductions in herbicide savings.     

不同覆盖措施无公害清除五味子园杂草的试验

通过对凤城市郊区北五味子园杂草种群分布情况的调查和实施不同覆盖措施清除杂草试验，结果表明：凤城市郊区五味子园杂草具有鲜明的季节特性和杂草分布不均匀特性，杂草滋生数量较大，对五味子植株生产影响较大；杂草主要通过草籽和串根繁殖；不同覆盖措施间控制杂草的效果差异极显著，以覆双层黑地膜取得的效果最好，杂草比对照减少99．80％。采取双层黑地膜覆盖技术是有效控制五味子园杂草滋生蔓延的最佳措施，能够达到彻底控制杂草的目的。