Saving Crops with Space Tech: NASA's JPL and Cornell Take On Plant Diseases
NASA's JPL and Cornell University used advanced technology for early detection of plant diseases.
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They used a high-tech tool from NASA, the AVIRIS-NG, to detect early indicators of a grape disease that causes significant crop damage each year.
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GLRaV-3, a virus primarily transmitted by insects, leads to significant yield reduction and fruit quality deterioration, inflicting around $3 billion in losses to the U.S. wine and grape industry per annum.
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The novel approach utilized the AVIRIS-NG technology coupled with machine learning to provide a comprehensive and early detection mechanism.
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Using AVIRIS-NG, the team surveyed approximately 11,000 acres of vineyards in Lodi, California, collecting valuable data for their study.
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The team's computer models, fed with this data, were developed to distinguish between infected and non-infected vines.
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This new technique opens up the possibility of providing grape growers with up to a year's advance warning, facilitating effective intervention.
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The study underscores the potential of leveraging advanced technology for ground-based pathogen surveillance.
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JPL's research technologist and co-author, Ryan Pavlick, explained the research's larger goal to apply this globally for various crop diseases.
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