Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, two private companies from Salento (Feudi di Guagnano and ZeroDD) together with the CNR, will develop innovative methodologies for the detection of a new vine weed.
“PRISM – early and responsive diagnosis in Mediterranean vineyards” is the name of the project financed within the RETI public notice “Support for collaborative research” of the Puglia Region, presented by the group formed by ZeroDD, a cutting-edge company in IT solutions, since CNR Institute for Computing Applications “Mauro Picone” e STIIMA-CNR and from the cellar Fiefs of Guagnano.
The project proposes to develop a collection of innovative methodologies for the detection and early diagnosis of jacobiasca lybica (African leafhopper) infestation in vine crops in Puglia. Advanced artificial intelligence and image analysis techniques of vine leaves, acquired from mobile devices, in particular intelligent semantic segmentation algorithms, will be able to identify early signs of infestation, activating, where necessary, further entomological checks and analyses.
At the same time, the project involves the development of a WebGIS platform that integrates the infestation data detected by the methodologies already available and those developed by the project (each with its own level of confidence) and the information provided by predictive diffusion models, offering an organic vision that allows the taking of decisions aimed at containing the potential spread of the African leafhopper in the territory and minimizing the consequent economic impact.
“The project idea is particularly innovative – states Gianvito Rizzo, administrator of the Feudi di Guagnano winery – In fact, the combined approach of artificial intelligence, image analysis and predictive models offers an extraordinary opportunity to improve the timeliness and effectiveness of actions to combat the spread of Jacobiasca lybica. This will reduce the economic risk for many farmers. Feudi di Guagnano with its collaborators, continues Gianvito Rizzo, will take care of all part of the field surveys while the CNR and ZeroDD will create the software and hardware infrastructure of the data collection and analysis system”.
