Multi-source digital pest surveillance in citrus fruit for more sustainable crop protection

Horizon Europe project CERBERUS has developed a smart crop protection solution, which has been tested on their pilot sites for citrus fruit in Cyprus and Spain over the past two years. The multi-actor project has created a user-friendly cloud platform capable of processing Copernicus satellite images together with data from smart traps, close-range monitoring, and citizen observations, to provide decision and operation support for crop health management. The solution facilitates early detection of pests and enables precise, more targeted spraying of crop protection products. This efficiency saves time, money, and limits environmental impact. Chara Christodoulou, Plant Health Coordinator of The Cyprus Phassouri Plantations Co. Ltd. (CPPC) - the citrus plantation hosting the pilot site in Cyprus, says, “We can already confirm that the system has improved our decision-making process and helps us avoid unnecessary interventions by providing accurate and timely information on pest activity.”

Chara explains, “CPPC is the largest citrus producer in Cyprus, with our annual production exceeding 20 000 tonnes of fruit. Pest management is one of our most important challenges.” As the market is demanding ever more ‘perfect’ fruits, the destructive Mediterranean fruit fly or ‘medfly’ (Ceratitis capitata) is increasingly present as the climate warms. The medfly lays its eggs inside the fruit, causing internal damage and significant economic losses.

The CERBERUS solution is a holistic approach based on the use of multiple information sources, including digital technologies, to strengthen the connection between pest detection and targeted interventions. By merging the data collected, the project’s cloud platform makes a comprehensive assessment of crop health and pest pressure, and generates AI-based risk maps and specific spraying recommendations in easy-to-use formats. Spraying is adjusted accurately as a result, ensuring the crop receives the minimum necessary amount of treatment and significantly reducing spray drift and runoff. Chara says, “Through the platform, we now have continuous information about pest population dynamics and activity levels. This allows us to make more informed decisions regarding pest management and apply treatments only when and where there is a real need.”

The information input into the cloud platform comes partly from field surveillance. Chara has installed smart pheromone traps in her fields so that the medfly can be tracked and counted remotely. The cloud platform also automatically downloads and processes satellite images using the EU’s Copernicus Earth Observation services. This supports the calculation of vegetative indices and provides preliminary signs of anomalies indicating crop stress in the fields, some of which is due to pests.

Additional data comes from a citizen science programme run by the CERBERUS project. In Cyprus, fifteen citizens, non-professional farmers and students, have already obtained a kit from the project to set up traps in their gardens and fields. They are encouraged to regularly check their traps and upload pest information via an app.

CERBERUS has 6 pilot sites in total, testing their solution on other Mediterranean pests and disease-transmitting vectors impacting specialty crops: citrus, olives, and vineyards in Cyprus, Spain and Italy. The project trials continue until the end of 2027. In Cyprus, they are beginning a new important stage, testing a smart sprayer developed through the project. Chara concludes, “We believe that these tools will support more sustainable production by helping growers optimise pest management practices, reduce unnecessary inputs, and improve the overall efficiency of their crop protection programmes.”

Background information