Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current, January 28, 2022, Page 24, Image 24

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

2
CapitalPress.com
Friday, January 28, 2022
Idaho Innovators
Artiﬁ cial intelligence IDs insects
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Artiﬁ cial
intelligence
promises to make identify-
ing insects faster and eas-
ier, the University of Idaho’s
Marek Borowiec and his
research teammates believe.
USDA’s National Insti-
tute of Food and Agriculture
agreed. In April, the institute
awarded Borowiec’s team
a Cyberinformatics Tools
grant for $499,500.
The project, aimed at har-
nessing artiﬁ cial intelligence
to identify insects, will aid
integrated pest management
in small-grain production.
“The motivation here is
essentially to make the pro-
cess a little bit more eﬃ -
cient and easier for growers,
and potentially the exten-
sion researcher or educa-
tor,” Borowiec said. “We
want to come up with a sys-
tem that will assist in iden-
tifying, correctly document-
ing and sharing information
about pests.”
Successful IPM hinges
on correct insect identiﬁ ca-
tion. But since it requires
time and expertise, many
growers forgo it and apply
pesticides unnecessarily.
Immediate insect identi-
ﬁ cation and classiﬁ cation is
one element of the planned
system. Information shar-
ing via a free mobile app
Cereal grass aphids.
MAREK BOROWIEC
Title: Assistant professor, entomology, plant pathology and
nematology, University of Idaho.
Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees, University of
Wroclaw, Poland; Ph.D., University of California-Davis.
Courtesy of Aryn Baxter
Marek Borowiec is working on a new system that will allow farmers to quickly and
easily identify insects.
is another. It will focus on
the Inland Northwest but
be designed so it can be
extended to other regions.
Borowiec, an assistant
professor of entomology,
plant pathology and nema-
tology, said growers would
immediately be able to
see the correctly identiﬁ ed
insect, follow what other
farmers in their region are
experiencing, access online
resources and connect with
specialists.
Now, when they see an
unfamiliar insect on a crop
they have to contact a uni-
versity extension agent or
other researcher. He said
smartphones, online alert
networks and information
portals help but require iden-
tiﬁ cation,
documentation
and other steps that can take
time.
The artiﬁ cial intelligence
is “basically the capacity to
attach a certain name or clas-
siﬁ cation to a photograph,”
feasible for computers only
in the past four to ﬁ ve years.
The problem is complex
since a photo includes many
variables, ranging from
angle and background to the
subject’s size, position and
distance.
Researchers will collect
images of insects on cere-
als and legumes. The images
will be used to “train” an arti-
Age: 36
Hometown: Moscow, Idaho.
Family: Engaged to Aryn Baxter, lecturer on education in
leadership for organizations, University of Dayton.
Hobbies: Outdoor activities including hiking, trail running,
skiing.
Research team: Arash Rashed, Sanford Eigenbrode and
Lucas Sheneman, and postdoctoral researcher Subodh
Adhikari.
ﬁ cial-intelligence algorithm.
For example, photos of
cereal grass aphids — an
important emerging pest,
Borowiec said — and the
English grain aphid were
used to “train” a preliminary
METAL BUILDINGS!
BUILDINGS!
52
53 Years of Manufacturing
Manufacturing Excellence
Excellence
Buy Factory
Factory Direct!
Direct!
Equipment Storage • Shop • Barn
Hay Shed • Dairy Shade • Arena
Roofing, Siding, & Trim
• CUSTOM BUILT FLATBEDS
Call Today!
• RUGBY RANCHER FLATBEDS - IN STOCK!
• SERVICE BODIES • DUMP BEDS
R&M Steel Co.
• TOOLBOXES • RECEIVER HITCHES
• GOOSENECK HITCHES • TRAILER
SERVICE AND REPAIR
• TRUCK ACCESSORIES
www.rmsteel.com
sales.rmsteel@gmail.com
S274187-1
S258252-1
208-454-1800
www.canyontruck.com
15881 Robber Place, Caldwell, Idaho 83607
208-459-0646
version.
“You have to have lots
of examples of these pests
in photos so it can learn the
important features,” he said.
Later in the four-year
project, researchers will
design the free identiﬁ cation
and analysis tool, get feed-
back from stakeholders and
work on improvements.
“On a parallel track, we
plan to collect more data and
more images to make the ID
algorithm work better and
make the interface friendly
to users,” Borowiec said.
An advisory board to
include cereal crop grow-
ers and possibly commodity
commission representatives
is planned.
The system “has the
potential of being as accu-
rate or more accurate than
a human expert, with a frac-
tion of the time needed for
making a determination,” he
said. It aims to enable farm-
ers to more quickly opti-
mize pesticide management
decisions.
“The idea is to not have
to work as hard to improve
your decision process, be
more likely to make a good
decision, and even save
some money,” he said.
This story ﬁ rst appeared
May 21, 2021.
S275138-1
S220614-1
IMPROVE YOUR SOIL HEALTH FOR 2022 WITH THE BEST NATURAL FERTILIZER ON EARTH
PERFECT FOR PASTURES, NUTS, FRUIT TREES, VEGGIES, HEMP, AND EVERYTHING ELSE...
Nothing Is Better Than Chicken Soup
for the Soil® for Farm, Hay, & Pastures!
for฀the฀Soil
for฀the฀Soil
“Chicken฀Soup฀for฀the฀Soil improves฀your฀soil฀
by฀feeding฀the฀microbes฀and฀supplying฀all฀the฀
nutrients฀most฀fertilizers฀neglect.”
®
“Chicken฀Soup฀for฀the฀Soil improves฀your฀soil฀
by฀feeding฀the฀microbes฀and฀supplying฀all฀the฀
nutrients฀most฀fertilizers฀neglect.”
Do you have a farm, hay field, or pasture? The nutrients in Chicken Soup for the Soil® will
stimulate life in the soil, balance the soil ecology, and supply nutrients / trace minerals at a
biological level. Happy, nutrient rich soil will help you grow higher quality crops, hay, and
grass that is super healthy and delicious to eat... you can also expect increased yields.
Please take a look at the following testimonial of a large grass hay farm in Idaho.
The first 2 pictures are before and after first cutting. The bright green grass is new growth.
Perfect For Agricultural Use
Hemp, Apples, Pastures, Almonds, Grapes, etc.
• Grow higher-quality fruits and vegetables with more color, better
It is documented that for every 1% organic matter the soil will hold a minimum of 16500 gallons
of water per acre. So if you increase your OM .5% you increase the water holding capacity 8,250
gallons per acre. Not Bad! -Jim Zamzow
This is a Great Alternative To Urea Nitrogen...
Save Money! Improve Your Soil!
64oz
taste, and less bug infestations and disease.
• Contains all the nutrients we have identified over the years as being
beneficial to edibles (includes sea nutrients, amino acids, humid, filmic,
Jug
9 .95
34
$2
ING
HIPP
EE S
+ FR
• and
Grow฀higher-quality฀fruits฀and฀vegetables฀with฀more฀color,฀better
other herbal extracts).
*Makes฀up฀to
• taste,฀and฀less฀bug฀infestations฀and฀disease.
All natural, toxin free, and bioavailable.
• • Contains฀all฀the฀elements฀in฀the฀periodic฀table฀(sea฀nutrients,
Non-leaching formula / nutrients accumulate over time.
• amino฀acids,฀humic,฀fulvic,฀and฀other฀herbal฀extracts).
Makes an amazing Compost Tea.
• • All฀natural,฀toxin฀free,฀and฀bioavailable.
Perfect for Gardeners, Growers, Farmers & Ranchers.
• Also
Non-leaching฀formula฀/฀nutrients฀accumulate฀over฀time.
Available:
• Perfect฀for฀Gardeners,฀Growers,฀and฀Farmers.
128฀gallons฀with
1฀tablespoon
per฀gallon.
*Makes฀up฀to
128฀gallons฀with
1฀tablespoon
per฀gallon.
Call 888-394-4454
www.DrJimZ.com
TOMATO SECRET
BLOOM KABOOM
TREE SECRET
MYCORRHIZAE
S276778-1
INCREASE ORGANIC MATTER!
"I talked to Chris L. from northern Indiana yesterday and he said last year on half of his
pasture he applied Chicken Soup. This winter when he pulled soil tests and his Chicken Soup
side is 1% organic matter and 6 CEC. The other side is still .5% organic matter and 4 CEC. I
thought you would find that interesting." Testimonial sent by Jesse H.