Drones That Deliver: Pheromone-Based Mating Disruption Deployed via Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles in U.S. Cranberries

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Entomology
• Pest Management
• Precision Agriculture

Background:

• Cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm cause annual damage to cranberry crops, necessitating multiple pesticide applications.
• Current pesticide use is costly, leads to residues, and highlights the need for sustainable pest control alternatives.
• Pheromone-based mating disruption offers a promising strategy to reduce or eliminate pesticide reliance in cranberry production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrofit an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) with a specialized extrusion device for applying viscous, pheromone-loaded paraffin emulsion.
• To evaluate the efficacy of UAV-delivered pheromones in controlling cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm populations.
• To assess the feasibility of UAVs as a novel application method for mating disruption technology in cranberry farming.

Main Methods:

• An octocopter UAV was modified with a novel extrusion system to dispense a thick, pheromone-infused paraffin emulsion.
• Autonomous flight paths were programmed for uniform pheromone application across cranberry beds.
• Mating disruption efficacy was measured by comparing male moth catches in lure-baited traps between treated and untreated areas.

Main Results:

• The retrofitted UAV successfully deployed the paraffin product uniformly during autonomous flights, despite limited flight times (~12 min) due to increased mass.
• Significantly fewer male cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm moths were captured in traps within pheromone-treated cranberry beds compared to control beds.
• The reduction in moth catches confirmed the adequate distribution and effectiveness of the UAV-applied pheromones in disrupting mating.

Conclusions:

• UAV-based application of pheromone-loaded paraffin is a viable concept for managing key cranberry pests.
• This technology has the potential to significantly reduce or replace conventional pesticide applications, minimizing residues.
• Further development is required to address UAV limitations, such as battery life and lifting capacity, for scalable, commercial implementation.