In Japan, they have created laser anti-aircraft systems against insects, which can destroy up to 300 insects per minute.

The Japanese National Agricultural and Food Research Organization (NARO) has developed a new technology capable of tracking the trajectory of insects and killing them with laser beams.

NARO plans to partner with the private sector to develop a commercially viable product by 2025. The new system could help achieve more sustainable agriculture by addressing insecticide resistance while reducing the amount of toxic chemicals used in modern agriculture.

Global food demand is expected to grow 70% by 2050 due to population growth. But growth in global cereal production has slowed due to global warming and severe pest damage. It is estimated that almost 16% of the world's food production is lost due to pests.

Chemical pesticides are widely used, but their effectiveness declines as pests become more resistant to insecticides. Some agricultural chemicals, developed with a lot of capital and time, can no longer help. At the same time, heavy use of chemicals is harmful to the environment.

Masaya Matsumura is heading research at NARO's Pest Control Unit, which is developing a laser system that enables more ecological pest control.

The system is not yet ready for practical use. She uses a camera to take pictures of insects and determine their location for shooting. It takes only 0.03 seconds, but still too long to reliably hit a moving insect.

To tackle this problem, the researchers developed a method for predicting the flight paths of insects. One target is Spodoptera litura, a large pest in Asia commonly known as the cotton leafworm or tobacco worm. It is a night moth that, in its larval form, causes serious harm by feeding on host plants that include soy, cabbage and strawberries, among other vegetables and fruits.

The researchers shot down flying cotton leafworms using a system that predicted their trajectories. This requires a camera with two or more lenses and a separate image sensor that simulates binocular vision.

Butterflies can fly from six to nine centimeters in 0.03 seconds. After detecting movement, the system predicts the nearest flight path of the insect with an accuracy of about 1.4 cm.

The flying cotton leafworm is 2-3 cm long, which gives the laser beam a high chance of hitting the target.

Another possible target is the autumn army worm. Its invasive larvae eat a wide variety of plants and severely damage economically important crops such as corn.

The system can also work against the Desert Locust, which is destroying crops, pastures and trees, threatening food security in Africa, the Middle East and India.

Current calculations show that one laser can kill up to 300 pests per minute. The researchers plan to begin field testing of the system in 2022 and believe that an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with the system will perform most efficiently.

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