Dogs traditionally deployed to protect rhinos and other endangered wildlife from poachers are finding a new role in South African agriculture – detecting pests in macadamia orchards before farmers can easily spot them.
By Maile Matsimela, digital editor at African Farming
Specialist K9 conservation company Luna Hounds is using dogs’ scent-detection abilities to identify macadamia felted coccid (MFC), potentially allowing growers to detect infestations earlier, target affected areas and reduce unnecessary chemical applications. The company reports field detection accuracy of up to 99%.
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From anti-poaching to agriculture
Luna Hounds founder Robynne Oosthuizen said the company’s work began in anti-poaching, but the capabilities of detection dogs opened the door to other applications.
The move into agriculture initially came through false codling moth (FCM), after Oosthuizen became aware of fruit shipments being rejected because of the pest.
Early infestations can be difficult to identify visually, but trials showed the dogs could detect what people could not. In tests involving bins containing thousands of fruit samples, the dogs located a single infested citrus fruit in about 30 seconds.
This eventually led Luna Hounds to Green Farms Nut Company (GFNC), where attention shifted towards MFC in macadamias.
The technology could be particularly useful on farms where growers are uncertain whether MFC is present and in nurseries, where early detection could help prevent the pest from being carried into new production areas.
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Dogs don’t have to see the pest
Unlike conventional scouting, which relies heavily on visually identifying pests or signs of damage, the dogs are trained to detect the scent associated with an infestation.
“Dogs don’t need to see the pest,” Oosthuizen said. “They detect the change in the scent picture. When the pest enters the plant, the composition changes and the dogs can pick that up.”
Training begins by imprinting a dog on the target scent before teaching it to systematically search an environment.
For MFC, transporting live infested plant material posed a challenge. Luna Hounds therefore worked with a Swiss company producing canine detection training aids, using an absorbent tube placed in infested macadamia trees to capture and retain the scent. The dogs can then be trained and deployed without transporting the pest itself.
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One hectare in about 11 minutes
Luna Hounds reports its dogs can achieve detection accuracy of up to 99% under field conditions. A dog team can currently search approximately one hectare in 11 minutes when no infestation is present.
The dogs’ responses can also provide clues about the possible intensity of an infestation. Their handlers record findings through an app, physically mark affected trees and provide farmers with reports identifying areas requiring attention.
The process can be repeated after treatment to determine whether pest-control measures have worked.
For Oosthuizen, the value lies not only in finding where MFC is present, but also in establishing where it is absent.
“Know where the MFC is and stop spraying where it isn’t,” she said. “If you know exactly where you have the pest, you can contain it, prevent it from spreading and avoid unnecessary chemical applications.”
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Another tool for farmers
GFNC group agricultural technical manager Barry Christie said the initiative demonstrated how agricultural innovation can come from unexpected places.
“Sometimes innovation is about looking at a problem differently,” Christie said, adding that using conservation dogs in orchards could help farmers identify problems earlier and better target interventions.
Barberton macadamia grower Deon du Plessis of Rietplaatz Landgoed is among the farmers working with Luna Hounds.
“Dogs can find what we can’t see, and that gives us another tool to make better decisions in the orchard,” he said.
Luna Hounds currently has 17 operational dogs. Training starts from around three months of age, with dogs becoming operational from approximately two years old. Rather than selling the dogs, the company deploys specialist K9 teams according to the size of a farm and the location and intensity of pest hotspots.
The company is already exploring other agricultural applications, including sugar cane, as it investigates which other pests and crops could benefit from canine scent detection.
“The sky is the limit,” Oosthuizen said. “We are only beginning to understand what these dogs can do for agriculture.”
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