In this study, a basic insect detection system consisting of a manual-focus camera, a Jetson Nano—a low-cost, low-power single-board computer, and a trained deep learning model was developed. The model was validated through a live visual feed. Detecting, classifying, and monitoring insect pests in a grain storage or food facility in real time is vital to making insect control decisions. The camera captures the image of the insect and passes it to a Jetson Nano for processing. The Jetson Nano runs a trained deep-learning model to detect the presence and species of insects. With three different lighting situations: white LED light, yellow LED light, and no lighting condition, the detection results are displayed on a monitor. Validating using F1 scores and comparing the accuracy based on light sources, the system was tested with a variety of stored grain insect pests and was able to detect and classify adult cigarette beetles and warehouse beetles with acceptable accuracy. The results demonstrate that the system is an effective and affordable automated solution to insect detection. Such an automated insect detection system can help reduce pest control costs and save producers time and energy while safeguarding the quality of stored products.
Protein content is an important quality trait in sorghum that influences breeding approaches, end-use applications, and market value. Influenced by genetic, agronomic, and environmental variability, sorghum is characterized by its wide variation in composition, which may also be evident in kernels from the same sample. This study developed and evaluated a method for a non-destructive and rapid prediction of protein content in individual sorghum kernels using single-kernel near-infrared spectroscopy (SKNIR). Applying different pre-processing techniques to the spectra collected from intact kernels, the calibration models were developed using partial least squares regression and the reference protein content values obtained from the LECO combustion method. The best model was obtained using multiplicative scatter correction as pre-processing, resulting in a standard error of prediction of 0.83% and a relative predictive determinant of 3.40. These were indicative of the good predictive ability of the model and the instrument to be applied in quality control and sorting applications. These results highlight the potential of SKNIR to capture the inter-kernel variability in sorghum protein content and enhance screening for grain quality in breeding and grain processing.