Innovation in wild pigs population control processes

Abstract

Javaporco is the name that all wild boar Sus scrofa in Brazil in different strains and degrees of crossbreeding with the domestic pig receives in Brazil. They are large animals, exotic to the Brazilian fauna and have become in recent years one of the worst pests of the Brazilian agricultural activity. In rapid expansion, javaporcos already affect rural areas in more than 1000 municipalities in Brazil. These animals destroy crops and can attack and transmit diseases to livestock, such as Classical and African Swine Fever, in addition to being hosts of several zoonoses. The javaporcos also represent a threat to biodiversity. For these reasons, population control of free-living javaporcos is necessary as a way to mitigate the economic and ecological damage they cause. Among the animal control techniques allowed by law in Brazil today, the use of traps stands out, which can be very effective. However, currently, its use comprises a low technology process, which is why its efficiency is still far below all the potential existing in this technique. In order to achieve high levels of efficiency in the population control of javaporcos using traps and to make the cost-benefit of using this technique more advantageous, a series of challenges are presented, such as, for example, 1) ensuring that all javaporcos of an area are captured, otherwise the survivors will reproduce among themselves and repopulate the managed areas and 2) decrease the time spent to maintain their operation and monitoring. In this sense, this project aims to test the technical feasibility of integrating remote and real-time transmission technologies of images and data between trap and users, as an innovation in the process of capturing and controlling population of javaporcos. We will test the integration of technologies already on the market in systems for transmitting images and data from equipment (trap, cameras and motion sensors) installed in remote areas, with monitoring and control services available on the WEB platform and applications in web browsers and Android and Iphone apps. Such an application could be a notable innovation in the processes of population control of javaporcos, as there is no similar solution in Brazil. Currently, only 2 US companies apply innovations for the control of javaporcos similar to those we want to test. Our company already has a point-to-point communication system, integrated with an IP camera and PIR motion detectors, for monitoring and triggering the traps in real time, but the solution used is still very rudimentary and not scalable. Among the fauna management companies in the Brazilian market, there are already three working with javaporco control and several informal "control teams", formed mostly by hunters, but none of them offers a product or service that integrates the type of process innovation that we want to test. The development of this project has the potential to result in the production of a product and / or provision of an innovative and scalable service for this market segment in Brazil. The focus will be on testing solutions that meet the needs of our customers and, in the future, make the company a national and international reference in the population control of javaporcos. The main groups of customers who would potentially be interested in our product and service are: Public bodies for the management of Conservation Units and for the monitoring of swine health; Associations, Unions, Cooperatives, Confederations, Federations and Companies linked to agriculture and livestock, specifically the productive chain of swine, grains, biofuels and paper and cellulose; Agricultural input companies; Environmental and agricultural consultancy companies; Environmental NGOs; Rural landowners in general. (AU)