US-12622427-B2 - Information processor for predicting a risk of pest damage to produce

US12622427B2US 12622427 B2US12622427 B2US 12622427B2US-12622427-B2

Abstract

Problem To provide an information processor capable of effectively reducing a risk of pest damage to produce. Solution An information processor 10 predicts a risk of pest damage to produce, the information processor comprising: a prediction unit for predicting an effect of reducing the pest damage risk for each of a plurality of countermeasure candidates for changing at least one influencing parameter affecting the pest damage risk; and a selection unit for selecting a countermeasure from among the plurality of countermeasure candidates while prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk, on the basis of a result of predicting the effect of reducing the pest damage risk afforded by the prediction unit.

Inventors

Satoshi Ito
Asako Mori
Takahiro SASSA

Assignees

BAYER CROPSCIENCE K.K.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210312
Priority Date: 20200316

Claims (7)

1 . An information processor for predicting a risk of pest damage to produce, said information processor comprising: a prediction unit in communication with: a user terminal of a user associated with the produce to receive, from the user terminal, a location of a cultivation site of the produce; a sensor device at the cultivation site of the produce to receive, from the sensor device, at least one environmental parameter relating to an environment at the cultivation site; and a weather information server to receive, from the weather information server, weather information for the cultivation site; wherein the prediction unit is configured to: predict, using a prediction model, an effect of reducing the pest damage risk for each of a plurality of countermeasure candidates for changing at least one influencing parameter affecting the pest damage risk to the produce based on the location of the cultivation site of the produce, the at least one environmental parameter relating to the environment at the cultivation site, and the weather information for the cultivation site, and wherein the at least one influencing parameter includes a chemical agent application parameter relating to application of a chemical agent at the cultivation site of the produce; and rank the plurality of countermeasure candidates based on the effect of each of the countermeasure candidates for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce; a selection unit configured to: identify ones of the plurality of countermeasure candidates having an effect for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce that satisfies a threshold; and select a countermeasure from among only the ones plurality of ranked countermeasure candidates that have an effect for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce that satisfies the threshold while prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk, on the basis of a result of predicting the effect of reducing the pest damage risk afforded by the prediction unit; and an output unit configured to transmit the selected countermeasure to the user terminal, wherein the selected countermeasure includes instructions to change the chemical agent application parameter; wherein, in response to the transmittal of the selected countermeasure, the user terminal visually displays the change in the chemical agent application parameter to the user whereby the user applies the chemical agent at the cultivation site of the produce in accordance with the changed chemical application parameter.
2 . The information processor according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit makes a selection by prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk and then prioritizing a countermeasure which is implemented with less labor.
3 . The information processor according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit makes a selection by prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk and then prioritizing a countermeasure which is implemented at a lower cost.
4 . The information processor according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions to change the chemical agent application parameter include information indicating an action to be undertaken by the user to cause the change in the chemical agent application parameter.
5 . The information processor according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one influencing parameter further includes the environmental parameter relating to the environment at the cultivation site of the produce.
6 . A method for reducing risk of pest damage to produce, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, a location of a cultivation site of the produce from a user terminal of a user associated with the produce, at least one environmental parameter relating to an environment at the cultivation site from a sensor device at the cultivation site, and weather information for the cultivation site from a weather information server; predicting, by the processor, an effect of reducing the pest damage risk for each of a plurality of countermeasure candidates for changing at least one influencing parameter affecting the pest damage risk to the produce based on the location of the cultivation site of the produce, the at least one environmental parameter relating to the environment at the cultivation site, and the weather information for the cultivation site, wherein the at least one influencing parameter includes a chemical agent application parameter relating to application of a chemical agent at a cultivation site of the produce; ranking, by the processor, the plurality of countermeasure candidates based on the effect of each of the countermeasure candidates for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce; identifying, by the processor, ones of the plurality of countermeasure candidates having an effect for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce that satisfies a threshold; selecting, by the processor, a countermeasure from among only the ones plurality of ranked countermeasure candidates that have an effect for reducing the pest damage risk to the produce that satisfies the threshold while prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk, on the basis of a result of predicting the effect of reducing the pest damage risk afforded by the prediction unit; transmitting the selected countermeasure to the user terminal, wherein the selected countermeasure includes instructions to change the chemical agent application parameter; in response to the transmittal of the selected countermeasure, visually displaying the change in the chemical agent application parameter to the user; and applying the chemical agent at the cultivation site of the produce in accordance with the changed chemical application parameter.
7 . A method for reducing risk of pest damage to produce, the method comprising: acquiring, by a processor, an environmental parameter relating to an environment at a cultivation site of the produce from a sensor device at the cultivation site; predicting, by the processor, an effect of reducing the pest damage risk for each of a plurality of countermeasure candidates for changing at least one influencing parameter affecting the pest damage risk, wherein the at least on influencing parameter includes the environmental parameter relating to the environment at the cultivation site of the produce; selecting, by the processor, a countermeasure from among the plurality of countermeasure candidates while prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk, on the basis of a result of predicting the effect of reducing the pest damage risk afforded by the prediction unit, wherein the selected countermeasure changes the environmental parameter; and in response to selecting the countermeasure, automatically changing, by the processor, the environmental parameter at the cultivation site of the produce in accordance with the selected countermeasure.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/JP2021/010185, filed on Mar. 12, 2021, which claims the benefit of, and priority to, Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-045097, filed on Mar. 16, 2020. The entire disclosure of each of the above applications is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an information processor. BACKGROUND ART Agricultural technology has been proposed for protecting produce from pest damage (i.e., disease damage, which is damage to the produce caused by disease, or insect damage, which is damage to the produce caused by insects). Technology such as this involves predicting a pest damage risk, which is the risk of an outbreak of pest damage (e.g., see Patent Document 1). CITATION LIST Patent Literature [PTL 1] JP 2004-185222 A SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention A predicted pest damage risk is notified to a user (i.e., a farmer) and used for protecting the produce from pest damage. However, there is a wide range of actions which may be undertaken by the user in response to a notification of the results of the pest damage risk prediction. It may therefore be difficult for the user to select an action for effectively reducing the pest damage risk. As a result, it may be difficult to effectively reduce the risk of pest damage to the produce. In light of this problem, the objective of the present invention lies in providing an information processor capable of effectively reducing the risk of pest damage to produce. Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve the abovementioned problem, an information processor predicts a risk of pest damage to produce, the information processor comprising: a prediction unit for predicting an effect of reducing the pest damage risk for each of a plurality of countermeasure candidates for changing at least one influencing parameter affecting the pest damage risk; and a selection unit for selecting a countermeasure from among the plurality of countermeasure candidates while prioritizing a countermeasure having a higher effect of reducing the pest damage risk, on the basis of a result of predicting the effect of reducing the pest damage risk afforded by the prediction unit. Advantage of the Invention The present invention makes it possible to effectively reduce a risk of pest damage to produce. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline configuration of an information processing system according to a mode of embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an information processing server according to a mode of embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow relating to a pest damage risk prediction made by the information processing server according to a mode of embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a result of predicting an effect of reducing a pest damage risk afforded by a prediction unit according to a mode of embodiment of the present invention. MODE OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A preferred mode of embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the appended drawings. Dimensions, materials and other specific numerical values, etc. indicated in this mode of embodiment are merely an illustration to help with an understanding of the invention, and they do not limit the present invention unless specifically stated otherwise. It should be noted that components having substantially the same function or configuration in the present specification and drawings bear the same reference symbols and a duplicate description thereof will not be given, and furthermore, components which are not directly related to the present invention are omitted from the drawings. Configuration of Information Processing System The configuration of an information processing system 1 according to a mode of embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline configuration of the information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system 1 comprises an information processing server 10, a user terminal 20, a sensor device 30, and a weather information server 40. The information processing server 10, user terminal 20, sensor device 30 and weather information server 40 are capable of communicating via a wireless communication network. The information processing system 1 is a system for supporting cultivation of produce at a cultivation site C1 by a user U1, who is a farmer. It should be noted that FIG. 1 shows an example in which the cultivation site C1 is a plastic greenhouse, but the cultivation site C1 may equally be a cultivation site other than a plastic greenhouse