Project description
Like a stethoscope on the ‘heart’ of your tree
Weevils may be tiny, but their tree-boring activity can be like a rumbling earthquake inside the trees. From a distance it is undetectable – until the trees show signs of stress after months of boring, and it is often too late to save them. The Isreali SME Agrint Sensing Solutions has developed IoTree, the first seismic sensor for early electronic detection of the slightest larval movement. Placed on the tree trunk like a stethoscope and supported by cloud-based Big Data analysis and alerts, it will reduce pesticide use and save trees. The EU-funded IoTree project is helping the team optimise the technology and prepare for scale-up and commercialisation.
Objective
Agrint has developed IoTree, the first seismic sensor for electronic detection of the Red Palm Weevil (member of
Coleoptera: Curculionidae), by detecting the burrowing activity of larvae inside the tree, in early stages. Agrint’s technology
is designed to keep pest management costs to a bare minimum. The sensor’s ability to detect the weevil at a larval stage
means the tree can be saved and pesticides are only applied to infested trees. Later on the technology will be applied to
detect additional tree borers.
Originating in southern Asia and Melanesia, where it is a serious pest of coconuts, this weevil has been advancing
westwards very rapidly since the mid-1980s.
Damage to palms is produced mainly by the larvae that move towards the interior of the palm making tunnels and large
cavities. They can be found in any place within the palm, even in the very base of the trunk where the roots emerge. The
palm tree does not show any signs of distress, until a few months later, when it begins to lose its strength. When the first
symptoms of the attack appear, they are so serious that they generally result in the death of the tree. At this point, it is too
late to save the tree and at the same time dozens of weevils fly off the dying tree, ready to attack new ones. Late detection
constitutes a serious problem in the fight against the pest and in any attempt to guarantee pest-free status in adult trees.
Overlapping generations with all life stages can be present within the same palm tree. Generally the adult weevils will not
move to another palm while they can feed on it.
Before IoTree, there were no effective early detection tool against the weevil as it became a worldwide catastrophe. Thus,
farmers were forced to use frequent pesticide spraying. However, pesticides only offer short-term protection and must be
repeated throughout the year, with a consequently costly management over time. According to the FAO, 2% of new palm
tree are infected yearly.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies food technology food safety
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4524188 HOD HASHARON
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.