USE OF AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE IN THE CONTROL OF THE TUTA ABSOLUTA QUARANTINE PEST

Abstract

In recent years, in the south-east of the country, there has been a massive reproduction of Tuta absoluta, which significantly reduces the yield and deteriorates the quality of tomatoes. The use of chemical insecticides against a quarantine pest does not give the expected results since Tuta absoluta has developed resistance to many groups of active substances. An urgent problem is the development of an integrated tomato protection system that allows obtaining high-quality, safe tomato products, at the same time not polluting the environment. The remote sensing sessions of tomato crops on the field using UAV with multispectral camera were carried out to collect information on phytosanitary condition of tomato plantation using unmanned aerial vehicles. The data obtained was processed using Agisoft Metashape Pro software, digital field maps and NDVI vegetation index charts were obtained. In addition to collecting and processing information, agrodrons were used to scatter entomophages. The scattering of Sitotroga eggs infected with a trichogram is possible on this device only with the use of additional ballast – bulk material. According to the results of the biopreparation treatments carried out in field conditions with the help of agrodrons, the following results were obtained: the biological effectiveness of the drug against the quarantine pest was 82.2%. The article presents data on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for the protection (introduction of bioagents, biological products) of tomatoes of open ground. The development of an integrated system for the protection of tomatoes in the open ground using UAVs and biological agents will further solve the issue of controlling populations of T.absoluta on the field and provide ecologically clean production.