Exposure of spray-operators to Fenitrothion in apple orchards.

Exposure of spray operators to paraquat.

Robotic Surveying of Apple Orchards

We present a novel system for surveying apple orchards by counting apples and estimating apple diameters. Existing surveying systems resort to active sensors, or high-resolution close-up images under controlled lighting conditions. The main novelty of our system is the use of a traditional low resolution stereo-system mounted on a small aerial vehicle. Vision processing in this set up is challe...

Impact of Exposure to Fenitrothion on Vital Organs in Rats

This study was designed to investigate the impact of oral administration of fenitrothion (10 mg/kg) on liver, kidney, brain, and lung function in rats. The effect was studied on days 7, 14, 21, 28, and 42. Our results have shown deterioration in liver function as evidenced by the elevation in serum ALT, AST, ALP, and bilirubin and reduction in albumin and hepatic glycogen. This was associated w...

Automated Crop Yield Estimation for Apple Orchards

Crop yield estimation is an important task in apple orchard management. The current manual sampling-based yield estimation is time-consuming, labor-intensive and inaccurate. To deal with this challenge, we developed a computer vision-based system for automated, rapid and accurate yield estimation. The system uses a two-camera stereo rig for image acquisition. It works at nighttime with controll...

Assessment of Phylloplane Micro-organism Populations in Canterbury Apple Orchards

Micro-organism populations on the leaf surface can be an indicator of environmental health in orchards. A method was developed to detect changes in these populations in apple orchards. Firstly, the variation within orchards was investigated by sampling leaves from seven locations within four trees in spring and autumn. The population density and species richness of micro-organisms when grown on...