Almond Grower Detects Shot Hole Disease Early with Aerobotics
An almond grower in the US used Aerobotics’ high-resolution imagery and Per-tree Health insights to detect yellowing leaves that revealed a shot hole disease outbreak. Guided by the Aeroview InField mobile app, the grower pinpointed affected trees and confirmed the issue on the ground. By identifying the disease early, the grower avoided escalating losses, protecting up to 30% of yield—equivalent to $22,000 in value—and preventing the infestation from spreading in subsequent seasons.
Crop Type: Nuts, Almonds
Location: California, USA
Cracking down on poor almond tree health
It is well known that pests and diseases will target almond trees that are under stress before healthier trees.
An almond grower in California used his Tree Insights to get to the root cause of stress in areas of an orchard.
The Problem
The grower picked up on yellowing leaves in sections of his orchard from high resolution imagery on the Aeroview platform.Per-tree Health insights revealed a pattern in the orchard that indicated an outbreak had occurred. The grower set up a route to target and investigate the areas of concern on the ground.
The Challenge
Using the Aeroview InField mobile app, the grower was guided to the specific areas he had set up in his office. At the first tree, he noticed the problem was shot hole disease. Shot hole disease is a fungal disease that first appears as spots or lesions on leaves, twigs, flowers and fruit and can be difficult to detect with the naked eye.
Results
The grower estimated a loss of between 15 to 30% of yield for the affected trees. Given the market price for almonds in the US at the time, this equated to roughly $22,000. Had the grower not discovered the infestation on our platform, the loss would have increased year on year.
