Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
IPM that anticipates outbreaks—not just reacts to traps.
Sera continuously correlates sticky trap counts, scouting logs, climate conditions, crop stage, beneficial releases, and your exact protocols to explain pest pressure trends, predict escalation risks, and recommend precise intervention timing and methods—enabling preventive, low-residue control in tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and ornamentals while preserving beneficial populations and minimizing chemical use.
The challenge
Effective IPM in commercial greenhouses demands early detection, accurate threshold application, and biology-aware timing—but real-world execution is fraught with challenges:
Delayed or inconsistent scouting: Sticky trap counts or visual inspections are sporadic (e.g., 1–2×/week), missing rapid build-ups of thrips, whitefly, aphids, spider mites, or leafminers during favorable conditions (high temp + low RH).
Threshold ambiguity: Generic economic thresholds ignore site-specific factors—e.g., whitefly >5/trap/week may be tolerable in low-light propagation but catastrophic in high-light fruiting tomatoes due to virus transmission risk.
Climate-pest interactions: Warm nights (>20 °C), high VPD, or poor ventilation accelerate whitefly reproduction and thrips dispersal; high humidity favors Botrytis or powdery mildew—yet these drivers are rarely cross-checked against pest data in real time.
Biological control gaps: Timing of beneficial releases (e.g., Encarsia, Amblyseius, Orius) or banker plants is often off—too early wastes predators, too late allows establishment; release efficacy drops if climate deviates from optimal ranges.
Intervention hesitation or overkill: Growers delay chemical sprays fearing residue limits or beneficial kill-off, then escalate to broad-spectrum when pressure spikes—leading to resistance buildup, higher costs, and quality rejections.
Multi-site / multi-crop complexity: Different varieties, zones, or facilities have varying pressure baselines and tolerances; manual coordination leads to inconsistent protocols and preventable flare-ups.
Without integrated, real-time reasoning across monitoring, climate, biology, and your SOPs, IPM stays reactive—allowing small populations to become outbreaks that damage yield, quality, and certification status.
How Sera helps
Sera ingests sticky trap data (manual entry or digital), scouting logs, climate computer records (temp, RH, VPD, radiation), beneficial release records, pesticide application logs, and your uploaded IPM protocols (thresholds by crop/stage/zone, biological release guidelines, rotation rules, residue limits). It reasons continuously over population dynamics, environmental favorability, and intervention efficacy to deliver plain-English pressure assessments, risk forecasts, and tailored action recommendations.
Daily IPM status brief delivered automatically
Morning push summary: Prioritized overview of pressure trends and immediate risks.
"Whitefly pressure rising in Zone 3 propagation—sticky traps averaged 6.2 adults/trap this week (up from 1.8 last week). Favorable conditions: night temps 21–23 °C, RH 78–85%. No beneficial release detected. Projected: Risk of virus transmission in 7–10 days if unchecked. Recommendation: Release Encarsia formosa at 3–5/m² tomorrow per your protocol; scout high-risk plants daily."
Flags top concerns: Threshold breaches, accelerating trends, climate favorability spikes, or gaps in biological timing.
Instant pressure analysis and intervention guidance via chat
Query for precise, protocol-aligned answers:
"What's driving the thrips increase in Block 4 peppers?" → "Thrips counts rose from 2.1 to 8.4/trap over 10 days—correlated to VPD spikes >1.6 kPa midday (optimal dispersal) and night temps 19–21 °C (high reproduction). Current pressure exceeds your vegetative-phase threshold (5/trap). Impact: Risk of silvering on young fruit if >12/trap next week. Suggestion: Release Amblyseius swirskii at 10/m² + Orius insidiosus at 0.5/m² per your bio-first protocol; avoid broad-spectrum until day 7 follow-up scout."
"Should we spray for powdery mildew in tomatoes Zone 2?" → "Mildew favorable conditions present (RH >85% for 6+ h overnight, temps 18–24 °C). Scout logs show first pustules on lower leaves; pressure low but rising. Your protocol: Preventive biofungicide at first sign if RH windows >5 h. Recommendation: Apply Bacillus subtilis or potassium bicarbonate today; maintain VPD >1.0 kPa daytime to suppress sporulation. No curative needed yet."
"Audit our whitefly IPM vs. last cycle at same stage."
Proactive risk forecasting beyond trap counts
Detects escalation patterns thresholds alone miss:
Rapid trap count acceleration during high-reproduction windows (e.g., whitefly doubling every 7–10 days at 25 °C).
Climate-driven outbreaks (e.g., thrips migration on dry, warm winds).
Biological control windows closing (e.g., low RH reducing predatory mite efficacy).
Applies your site/crop rules to filter noise:
"Suppress whitefly alerts if <5/trap and no virus history in block."
"Flag only aphid thresholds > stage-specific values (e.g., 10/plant in propagation vs. 3/plant in fruiting)."
Knowledge base enforcement for consistent IPM
Upload your crop- and stage-specific thresholds, biological release rates/timing, pesticide rotation schedules, residue windows, and site quirks (e.g., "High whitefly baseline in propagation due to nearby ornamentals—use tighter thresholds").
Sera cross-checks every recommendation:
"Suggested Encarsia release aligns with your Phase 2 protocol (3–5/m² at >5/trap); temperature optimal for establishment."
"Proposed biofungicide fits your residue-sensitive export rules—no MRL impact."
Orchestrated actions for preventive control
Smart alerts routed: Rising pressure to head grower; biological timing to IPM lead; chemical decisions to ops/compliance.
Automated workflows:
Threshold + favorable climate hit → push scouting checklist + biological release SOP to floor team + create 72 h follow-up task.
Sustained escalation → escalate to chemical option per rotation rules + log for resistance tracking.
The results
Earlier, more preventive interventions: Catch pressure build-ups 5–14 days before visible damage—often reducing outbreak severity by 50–80% and cutting chemical applications.
Stronger biological reliance: Optimal timing and climate matching for predators/parasitoids—higher establishment rates, lower disruption, and sustained suppression with fewer inputs.
Lower residue and resistance risk: Targeted, rotated interventions preserve MRL compliance, export eligibility, and long-term efficacy of key actives.
Consistent execution at scale: Uniform thresholds and protocols across zones, sites, and teams—fewer flare-ups even during staff changes or expansions.
Better yield and quality: Reduced virus transmission (whitefly), feeding damage (thrips/mites), or fungal scarring—higher pack-out, better shelf-life, and premium pricing.
You transform IPM from a reactive cost center into a proactive, biology-first system that protects crop value with minimal intervention.
