Use MyPestGuide CropScout to help determine spray timing for pests, such as aphids and caterpillars, in crops and make crop scouting for pests easier, faster, and more accurate, to prevent economic damage to crops and unnecessary insecticide applications.
The information helps optimise spray timing and target sprays to pest infestations where they are clustered, such as along crop edges or in a portion of a crop and record and visualise results on a map. It also reduces the number of plant inspections required to be confident that spraying is necessary.
The app works with MyPestGuide Reporter when further identification or advice is needed. By using theses apps, you are protecting crops, agricultural industries, the natural environment, and communities from endemic and exotic pests of grain.
How to Use MyPestCropScout Online
Use the information recorded about pests in the crop to optimise spray timing and, where possible, target sprays to pest infestations where they are clustered, such as along crop edges or in a portion of a crop.
The CropScout canola aphid (winter/spring) module has integrated sequential sampling methods to reduce the number of plant inspections needed to assess cabbage and turnip aphids to prevent economic damage to crops and unnecessary insecticide applications.
The sweep net module records numbers of diamondback moth larvae, native budworm larvae and pea weevils sampled by sweep netting, and maps results relative to the spray thresholds for multiple crops.
For the canola aphid module, assess plants while walking a transect in a canola crop and record the presence and absence of aphids on branches. The app will continuously calculate the accuracy of sampling relative to a threshold of 20% of plants infested and tell you to stop when the algorithm is confident the infestation is either above or below threshold.
For the sweep net module, select a crop type and enter the numbers of diamondback moth larvae, native budworm larvae, or pea weevils you detect after doing 10 sweeps of an insect sweep net.
Results are averaged and presented relative to the spray thresholds for those pests in the crops. Results are mapped and colour coded as being above or below threshold.
Mapped results can only be viewed on a mobile device within WiFi range but the results are recorded and can be viewed and synced when in range via the mobile device CropScout app.
You can view lists of results in the app and export as a .csv file to an email account to view in your spreadsheet software, or export as a .kml and view in Google Earth or Google Maps.
This CropScout online platform can be used to view your synced results across selected time frames and geographies.
Acknowledgements
The original MyPestGuide Reporter app was developed with financial support from the Council of Grain Growers Organisations Limited (COGGO) and engineered by NGPerceptive. MyPestGuide CropScout was designed by the department and produced by NGPerceptive.
The sequential sampling algorithms for the canola aphid (winter/spring) module were taken from a research journal article.