Cerberus: The digital lord of the flies

Cerberus: The digital lord of the flies Professor Francisco Rovira-Más from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia discusses the Cerberus project, focusing on sustainable crop protection through data-driven decision-making in Mediterranean agriculture. The challenge tackled in Cerberus is to prove that crop protection can be sustainable when decisions are driven by trustworthy data. According to Junaid and Gokce (2024), 38% of agricultural losses are solely caused by insect pests, posing a serious threat to food security and agricultural sustainability. In particular, we are going to demonstrate the envisioned concept and methodology in the most relevant orchard crops found in Southern Europe –vineyards, olives, and citrus. Each crop is being monitored for one quarantine pest and one common pest. This article only focuses on the efforts made within Cerberus to fight common pests in Mediterranean agriculture; for the rest of quarantine pests and diseases, keep updated via our media channels. The specific common pests under observation and control are the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana), the olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae), and the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata). Hence, by putting the spotlight on one moth and two flies, we often nickname Cerberus the lord of the flies. Incidentally, the quarantine pest chosen for citrus is also a fly, the oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis).