BACKGROUND
DATE PALMS ARE UNDER ATTACK!
Date palm trees suffer irreversible damage when attacked by the red palm weevil. This pest’s larvae burrow deep into the heart of the palm tree, creating burrows of up to a meter in length that destroy the tree’s vascular system. The process continues undetected, until it drastically reduces the tree’s yield, and causes the rapid death and collapse of the tree. Currently-available solutions are ineffective, costly and harm the trees.
A Solution is Urgently Needed
Worldwide, 1.4 million hectares are planted with 160 million palm trees
9.5 million tons of dates are produced
11% of current date production is exported, 77% from MENA countries
The global market is expected to triple in value by 2025, reaching over16.5 Billion $
Gulf State growers have planted millions of new trees this past year alone
Tree replacement costs of MENA countries expected to reach over 2.3 Billion $ by 2023
Palm Robotics’ Remote Sensing Solution
Palm Robotics has developed the first-of-its-kind, end-to-end, cloud-based platform for the early detection of the red palm weevil. The cost-effective and affordable solution prevents tree mortality and replacement, reduces maintenance/growing costs and water usage, and increases yields and profitability. In addition, by significantly lowering the level of pesticide use, the system prevents export ineligibility.
Utilizing the latest technological advances, the system – based on precision agriculture through the use of remote sensors and drone and satellite imagery – delivers precise reports on infestation, damage assessment, nutritional analysis and yield estimates. Providing actionable insights and specific alerts – to the level of the individual tree – the system enables accurate decision-making and the timely action required to save endangered trees.
The platform is designed for agronomists, growers with large plantations, agricultural associations, public and private institutions that manage palm plantations, and authorities that grow date palms for gardening and decorative purposes.
Precision Agriculture Technology
Palm Robotics’ unprecedented solution combines existing agricultural technologies and indexes – such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and others – with advanced technologies and indexes developed by the company, which are based on precision, state-of-the-art remote sensing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big Data, sophisticated algorithms, complex statistical analysis, and proprietary knowledge gleaned from the company’s cutting-edge research.
Analyzing data from the drone and satellite imagery of palm canopies, this revolutionary solution tracks and monitors minute changes in date palms and builds a multispectral profile of each area and each palm tree, enabling the identification of trees under stress.
THE ENEMY OF THE DATE PALM:
THE RED PALM WEEVIL
- Larvae burrow into the heart of the palm dates causing irreversible damage
- Results in costly yield reduction and rapid tree death
- Estimated annual global damage: USD 2+ Billion
- Early detection is critical