Spatial data analysis in integrated pest management in olive growing

Several tools are proposed for the analysis and management of geographically referenced data for a territorial approach to Integrated Pest Management of pest crops. The Geographical Information System was used to manage spatially correlated data on infestation of Bactrocera oleae Gmelin, the "key-pest" in Italian olive groves. An internet-based monitoring network was implemented, which allowed several technicians distributed in a region to share the same Geographical Data Base Management System. An intranet web server with interactive web pages using the Java Servlet technology was set up. Data are stored in a relational database interacting with the web pages. This database includes fruit fly infestation data, meteorological data and the coordinates of the monitored points. Data collected weekly by technicians are processed by a GIS linked with the database. GIS produces several outputs used to support decisions in pest control: (i) optimize the distribution of monitored points; (ii) visualize pest dynamics; (iii) evaluate the linkage between entomological data and geographical factors (i.e. distance from the sea, altitude); (iv) forecast infestation, using a spatial interpolator. This work has been done in collaboration with the Liguria Region and the Regional Applied Agro-meteorological Service (CAAR).