Dogs trained to protect vines and crops from insects and fungal diseases
A Texas-based university got pet pooches to sniff out powdery mildew - a fungus that grows in humid, damp areas, and appears as a flat, often white powdery growth on surfaces, but it can turn brown or grey - in vineyards, with a 90 per cent accuracy.
Elsewhere, another university in the US got 1,000 dog owners together to teach their pets to sniff out eggs of lanternflies - a planthopper native to China and Vietnam, but have also made their way to Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
The insects are known to damage farms and forests.
The second university's study resulted in 92 per cent accuracy.
Professor Mizuho Nita, study author, is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "Finding them is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"They look like mud or lichen."
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Dogs trained to protect vines and crops from insects and fungal diseases
Dogs are being trained to protect vines and crops from insects and fungal diseases. A Texas-based university got pet pooches to sniff out powdery mildew - a fungus that grows in humid, damp areas, and appears as a flat, often white powdery growth on surfaces, but it can turn brown or grey - in vineyards, with a 90 per cent accuracy. Elsewhere, another university in the US got 1,000 dog owners together to teach their pets to sniff out eggs of lanternflies - a planthopper native to China and Vietnam, but have also made their way to Japan, South Korea, and the United States. The insects are known to damage farms and forests. The second university's study resulted in 92 per cent accuracy. Professor Mizuho Nita, study author, is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "Finding them is like searching for a needle in a haystack. "They look like mud or lichen."
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