Iranian Inventor Makes Device to Fight Psyllid Pest
The smart psyllid pest control device not only completely eradicates the pistachio pest, but also, unlike chemical pesticides, causes no harm to beneficial insects and pollinators.
“This device uses solar energy to provide its energy and can work for up to 28 days after half an hour of sunlight,” Mostafa Shafiqzadeh, a student of Medical Engineering at Islamic Azad University’ Torbat-e Heydariyeh branch told ANA.
“The smart psyllid pest control device has been installed in the gardeners' pistachio orchards since early May, and about 15 to 20 of these devices are required per hectare,” he added.
The smart psyllid pest control device creates psychological warfare for the insect, destroys the insect or moves the insect away from the environment and boundary we have determined, without causing problems for the tree's photosynthesis, so this device does not lower the quality of the pistachio and does not make the pistachio smaller (i.e. it does not reduce the size of the pistachio),” Shafiqzadeh said.
“We conducted comprehensive research on the pistachio pest for about a year and a half, and then implemented it using an ultrasonic frequency that is specific to the pistachio pest,” he added.
Noting that the smart psyllium pest control device creates psychological warfare for the insect, destroys the insect or drives the insect away from the environment without causing problems for the tree's photosynthesis, Shafiqzadeh said, “This device does not lower the quality of the pistachio and does not make the pistachio smaller (i.e., it does not reduce the size of the pistachio).”
“After field research, we obtained a number and intended to implement this number in the IC, which was not possible; therefore, we designed a raw IC and installed it on the smart psyllium pest control device and obtained the necessary approval by checking the frequency and found that the frequency was completely correct,” he explained.
“The device only reduces the number of pistachio pests to zero. Insects such as ladybugs, flies, etc. are useful for pollinating trees, and it does not have a negative impact on these beneficial insects and only prevents pistachio pests,” Shafiqzadeh concluded.
Iran is one of the most important producers of pistachio in the world.
Iran's pistachio exports to the European Union in 2023 witnessed a 17% decrease compared to the year before. Iran had exported more than €111 million pistachios to the 27-member bloc in 2022.
In 2023, Iran exported mainly pistachio nuts to the bloc, the report said, adding that the country exported €65 million and €27 million of pistachio nuts and shells to Europe in 2023, respectively.
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