A Dutch cress grower has enlisted high-tech helpers to kill moths in his greenhouses.

Palm-sized drones seek and destroy moths which cause significant crop losses in greenhouses, where the moths are free to thrive and produce caterpillars that damage the crops.

"I have unique products where you don't get certification to spray chemicals and I don't want it," said Rob Baan.

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Baan, the owner of Koppert Cress, was speaking in a greenhouse bathed in the pink glow of LED lights that help his seedlings grow. 

Baan's company exports aromatic seedlings, plants and flowers to top-end restaurants around the world.

Greenhouse guards

A keen adopter of innovative technology in his greenhouses, he turned to PATS Indoor Drone Solutions, a start-up that is developing autonomous drone systems as greenhouse guards, to add another layer of protection for his plants.

These very basic drones are steered by smart technology aided by special cameras that scan the airspace in greenhouses.

The drones instantly kill the moths by flying into them, destroying them in mid-air.

"So it sees the moth flying by, it knows where the drone is... and then it just directs the drone towards the moth," explained PATS chief technical officer Kevin van Hecke.

The company has released a video shot in a controlled environment that shows how one bug is instantly crushed by a drone rotor.

The drones form part of an array of pest control systems in Baan's greenhouses that also include other bugs, pheromone traps and bumblebees.

Smart control system

The drone system is the brainchild of former students from the Technical University in Delft, who came up the idea after considering using drones to kill mosquitos buzzing around their rooms at night.

Baan says the drone control system is smart enough to distinguish between good and bad critters.

"You don't want to kill a ladybug, because a ladybug is very helpful against aphids," Baan said. "So they should kill the bad ones, not the good ones. And the good ones are sometimes very expensive — I pay at least 50 cents for one bumblebee, so I don't want them to kill my bumblebees."

The young company is still working to perfect the technology. "It's still a development product, but we have very good results," said PATS CEO Bram Tijmons. 

"We are targeting moths and we are taking out moths every night in an autonomous way without human intervention. I think that's a good step forward."

Baan also acknowledges that the system still needs refining. "I think they still need too many drones... but it will be manageable, it will be less," he said. 

"I think they can do this greenhouse in the future maybe with 50 small drones, and then it [will be] very beneficial."