Apple Orchard Health: Evaluating Hyperspectral Imagery for Disease Detection and Biostimulant Efficacy.

英国果农正面临一项重大挑战，植物保护产品(PPP)供应的减少加剧了这一挑战：控制作物病害。在环境问题的推动下，逐步淘汰传统的购买力平价，增加了这个问题的复杂性。尽管采用了PPP，但英国苹果种植者每年因苹果黑星病(一种真菌疾病)而遭受约10%-12%的作物损失。如果没有购买力平价，这一数字将飙升至70%-80%。然而，有一个前景看好的解决方案即将出现：生物刺激剂。这些都是天然物质或微生物，在应用于它们时可以增强植物的自然防御能力和整体健康。然而，生物刺激剂的一个重大挑战是评估它们的有效性，因为它们的运作方式与传统的PPP截然不同。生物刺激剂作为预防措施而不是治愈性措施，需要在可见的疾病症状出现之前及时使用。准确地确定它们的使用时间是困难的，因为结痂感染的关键阶段仍然是肉眼看不见的。我们的项目旨在通过利用高光谱相机和无人机等先进技术来评估生物刺激剂的有效性这一挑战。高光谱传感器可以捕获和分析广泛的光谱波段，根据物体或材料的独特光谱特征提供详细和精确的表征。通过识别苹果黑星病等作物病害的特定光谱特征，并确定哪些光谱带表明生物刺激剂的有效性，我们可以开发出一种根据种植者的需求量身定做的负担得起的相机。该相机将作为早期预警系统，帮助防止疾病传播，提高作物产量和运营效率，并减少对传统PPP的依赖。在项目成功后，我们的系统具有更广泛的应用潜力。它可以被改装成测试各种生物刺激剂、作物和疾病，将其用途扩展到最初的范围之外。这种适应性将使我们能够收集有价值的见解，并推动英国其他作物在生物刺激剂研究、作物管理和疾病控制实践方面的进步。我们还可以将我们的技术扩展到全球种植者，解决与普遍疾病、作物和生物刺激剂相关的共同挑战。我们的系统将通过促进环境意识作物管理实践和生物刺激剂的广泛采用，为英国到2050年实现净零排放的目标做出贡献。此外，国际实施将提高环境意识，减少碳排放，减轻全球气候变化的影响。

UK fruit growers are facing a major challenge, exacerbated by the diminishing availability of plant protection products (PPP's): controlling crop disease. The phasing out of traditional PPP's, driven by environmental concerns, has added complexity to this issue. Despite utilisation of PPP's, UK apple growers experience an annual crop loss of approximately 10-12% due to apple scab, a fungal disease. Without PPP's, this figure would skyrocket to 70-80%. However, there is a promising solution on the horizon: biostimulants. These are natural substances or micro-organisms that can enhance the natural defences and overall health of the plants when applied to them.However, one significant challenge of biostimulants is assessing their effectiveness as they operate distinctively from conventional PPP's. Biostimulants serve as preventative measures rather than curative, necessitating timely application before visible disease symptoms emerge. Accurately timing their use is difficult, as the critical phase of scab infection remains invisible to the naked eye.Our project aims to address the challenge of evaluating the effectiveness of biostimulants by utilising advanced technologies such as hyperspectral cameras and drones. Hyperspectral sensors can capture and analyse a wide range of spectral bands, providing detailed and precise characterisation of objects or materials based on their unique spectral signatures. By identifying specific spectral signatures for crop diseases, like apple scab, and determining which spectral bands indicate the efficacy of biostimulants, we can develop an affordable camera tailored to the needs of growers. This camera will serve as an early warning system, helping prevent disease spread, enhancing crop yield and operational efficiency, and reducing reliance on traditional PPP's.Upon project success, our system has the potential for broader applications. It can be adapted to test various biostimulants, crops, and diseases, extending its usefulness beyond the initial scope. This adaptability will enable us to gather valuable insights and drive advancements in biostimulant research, crop management, and disease control practices in other UK crops. We can also extend our technology to growers globally, addressing shared challenges related to universal disease, crops, and biostimulants.Our system will contribute to the UK's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 by facilitating the widespread adoption of environmentally conscious crop management practices and biostimulant use. Moreover, international implementation will promote environmental awareness, reduce carbon emissions, and mitigating the effects of climate change globally.