Early detection of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) in oranges using different aspects of remote sensing applications

Abstract

Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) is regarded as an important pest of orange (Citrus). Early detection of pest infestations enables the optimal application of preventative and control measures. This study was carried out under laboratory conditions, in order to predict and monitor orange pest infestations. Consequently, the scope was to find a remote sensing application that can help in the prediction of Mediterranean Fruit Fly infestation in oranges with the least loss in production. Spectroscopic and thermal imaging techniques were investigated, as effective tools in determination of pest infestation and damage in orange fruits. According to the findings, the optimum spectral zones that can be used to discriminate and differentiate between healthy (non-infected) orange fruit and infected ones were red and near infrared bands. Six vegetation indices were calculated to analyze the Field Spectral measurements. By calculating the NPCI (Normalized Pigment Chlorophyll Index), it was found that NPCI values for infected orange fruits were higher in comparison to healthy ones. Thermal imaging showed that the infected orange fruit temperatures were on average 0.8 °C higher than that of healthy fruits. As the maximum temperature differential (MTD) between healthy and infected fruits were 23.7–24.5 °C, respectively. These spectral reflectance curves were useful for researchers working on Site-specific crop management, as they can use remote sensing to detect individual fruit infections. Also, this technique should be used as a powerful and non-destructive method for assistance in agriculture.