KVH Chief Executive Stu Hutchings was part of the judging panel at this year’s Ag Tech Hackathon, where an innovation and technology company with a track record for coming up with high-tech solutions to industry problems claimed the win for their device that has the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) in its sights.

Their solution, Bugkilla, uses pheromones and light waves to attract BMSB into a chamber. The bug crawls in and a camera identifies if it is a stink bug. If it is, a fan draws the bug up to an electric grating and zaps it then ejects the dead bug.

Farmers Weekly spoke to the winners about their win in the Zespri-funded project, and next steps – which may include KVH as an end-user of potential products that help with the management of this pest, one of the kiwifruit industry’s most unwanted.