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Title: INTEGRATING THE STORED GRAIN ADVISOR PRO EXPERT SYSTEM WITH AN AUTOMATED ELECTRONIC ELECTRONIC GRAIN PROBE TRAPPING SYSTEM

Author
item Flinn, Paul
item Opit, George
item Throne, James

Submitted to: Workshop Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2006
Publication Date: 10/15/2006
Citation: Flinn, P.W., Opit, G.P., Throne, J.E. 2006. Integrating the stored grain advisor pro expert system with an automated electronic electronic grain probe trapping system. Proceedings of the 9th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection, p.408-413.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Automation of grain sampling should help to increase the adoption of stored-grain integrated pest management. A new commercial electronic grain probe trap (OPI Insector™) has recently been marketed. To make accurate insect management decisions, managers need to know both the insect species and numbers found in their grain. To make good management decisions, trap catch needs to be interpreted for the user. Insect species and grain temperature are two important factors that influence trap catch. Thus, an electronic trap needs to be able to estimate the species caught and grain temperature. We field tested OPI Insector™ electronic grain probes in two bins, each containing 32.6 Tonne of wheat, for a 10-month period. We compared estimates of insect density (insects/kg wheat) to the Insector counts. A statistical model was used to convert Insector™ catch into insects per kg. The average Insector™ manual tip counts and electronic counts were similar for most trapping dates. Stored Grain Advisor Pro (SGA Pro) was modified to automatically read the Insector database and to use a statistical model to estimate C. ferrugineus density from trap catch counts and grain temperature. Management decisions using Insector™ trap-catch estimates for Cryptolestes ferrugineus density were similar to those made using actual insect density for 10 out of 12 sampling dates for the first grain bin, and 11 out of 12 sampling dates for the second grain bin. The statistical model used to predict insect density from Insector trap catch tended to underestimate C. ferrugineus density when the grain was warmer than 23°C.