This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Advances in weed management technology could reduce reliance on herbicides and manual labor, but a new review from the University of Mississippi and Cornell University indicates those tools also bring steep costs and potential challenges. Lasers, robots and precision sprayers could present a "third revolution" of weed management, said Stephen Duke, research professor at the Ole Miss National Center for Natural Products Research.
"In the last 100 years, there have been two revolutions in weed management: synthetic herbicides and herbicide-resistant crops," he said. "It looks to me like AI-driven precision weed management will be the next revolution. "This has the potential to drastically change how we manage our crops." Duke and Lynn Sosnoskie, associate professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University, described the potential benefits and challenges facing robotic weed management in a review published in the journal Engineering.
The researchers focused on three emerging technologies: AI-guided lasers, robotic cultivators and precision sprayers. Each of the three technologies the researchers reviewed relies on real-time image analysis to detect weeds in crop rows. When a weed is detected, the machinery can either shoot it with a high-powered light beam, spray it with a herbicide or mechanically remove it from the soil.
"There are many reasons for wanting to look at alternative technology for weed management," Sosnoskie said. I work in specialty crops, and fruits and vegetables can be very sensitive to herbicide tools, which can delay crop emergence or cause damage or stunting in crops. "We accept this amount of injury to the plant because the need for weed suppression is so much more important.
But what we're finding is that with precision technology, we can keep some, and sometimes even all, of the herbicide off the crop." For organic farmers, who do not use synthetic herbicides, lasers and robotic tilling could help weed large crop fields without intense manual labor, Duke said. "Organic farmers don't have good weed management tools," he said. "They rely largely on hand labor, which is getting more and more expensive and difficult to find." Reducing herbicide use could also reduce chemical exposure on farms.
Studies show that spraying large amounts of herbicides onto crops each year may damage the local ecosystem. "This is something that could also benefit the people who work on these farms," Sosnoskie said. "Less exposure, protecting workers, potentially less residue on crops and less going into the environment—there are many values and benefits associated with the adoption of this technology." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
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