Eff cient Protection of Palms from RPW Larvae using Wireless Sensor Networks

Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is one of the most serious pests of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) palms. It is known to attack 20 palm species worldwide. Due to the concealed nature of feeding RPW, infestation is detected during the last stages and farmers become aware of the problem only when the tree is about to die. The acoustic activity of RPW larvae (inside an offshoot and base of leaves) consists of chewing, crawling, emission and quick oscillating sounds. In this paper, acoustic techniques are used to detect hidden larvae infestations of coconut palm trees in the early stages that are recorded using wireless sensor network establishing ad-hoc network. The fundamental frequency of the acoustic activity generated by the RPW larvae also contains environmental noise which is captured by the wireless sensors (nodes) fixed to the palms and transmitted to the server through access points covering number of palms arranged in the form of hexagon for processing using MatLab tools. This method is inexpensive when compared to the existing methods for the detection of RPW larvae. The simulation results are encouraging in establishing the detection of larvae (grubs) inside the palm, thus enabling the farmer to takeup the control measures before the damage reaches the economic threshold.