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Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by tootie on Friday July 10, 2020 @04:18PM (#23795956)
How long until we can deploy fleets of microdrones capable of killing pests with computer vision and lasers?
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by hosh on Friday July 10, 2020 @07:28PM (#23797816)
Or, I can plant things that repel specific pests, plant things that attract the natural predators of that pest, or plant sunflowers and tobacco as sacrificial plants. I can let the chickens go after the pests. I can recognize that sometimes, the pests are a solution to a different problem, and adjust things accordingly.

All of those solutions are more resilient than microdrones, computer vision, and laser. These high tech solutions require a long global supply chain. They don't make them as robust as as they used to. Further, having multiple, redundant pest management systems means that when one of them fails, they won't all fail.

Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by tootie on Friday July 10, 2020 @10:07PM (#23798844)
If that were true farmers would already be doing it.
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by ellis-bell on Friday July 10, 2020 @10:31PM (#23798969)
the whole efficient markets argument requires pressure in both directions. no one is short selling farmers.

just like how if a house is overpriced and real estate investors believe it that doesn't mean there's going to be adequate downward pressure (in expectation) to prevent an unlucky family from overpaying on the house. (there is upward pressure, though, because of house flipping)

and since entry into the agriculture industry is pretty steep, it's not like anyone who has an idea can just build a farm with a cool robust idea that is more optimal than the current solution.

the other difficulty is the extensive time horizons to implement the solution suggested by hosh. farmers can't just drop everything they're doing this season, implement regenerative ag ideas today and reap the benefits come harvest this year.

it's the same issue with organic. transitioning to organic is a time and cost intensive process for farmers (it can take a few years to be fully certified). only a small percentage of farms produce organic even though it commands a higher price.

edit: added this year to end of paragraph 4

Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by hosh on Saturday July 11, 2020 @03:02AM (#23800188)
There are some farmers who are already doing it. Like this guy: https://youtu.be/J_htLIUKX1Y
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by IAmEveryone on Friday July 10, 2020 @06:14PM (#23797196)
We've kinda been doing that for a while, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopesticide

More mechanical contraptions also have a long history, and do actually include lasers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_scarer#Lasers

But most pests are rather microscopic. I doubt we will ever construct silicon/metal hardware better able to operate at the level of, say, spores than the biological systems that are natural to that environment.

Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by dkarp on Friday July 10, 2020 @04:35PM (#23796147)
Don’t forget those pests to us are food to other organisms.
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by tootie on Friday July 10, 2020 @07:22PM (#23797767)
But we're already killing them in vast quantities using chemical biocides. Micro Laser Drones (tm) are only killing pests that are already doomed. They just don't seep into the water table or cause cancer.
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by 0xdeadbeefbabe on Friday July 10, 2020 @04:48PM (#23796290)
"“Unprecedented” locust invasion threatens crops in East Africa " https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22205251 (not yet)
Re:Investors say agroforestry is climate friendly and also p... by totetsu on Friday July 10, 2020 @07:58PM (#23798046)
drones are used to disperse corn moth preditor larve in germany, and cv is being tested on mobile platforms that can target spray or dig plants.