Over the last 5 years, there has been a tremendous amount of investment, research and advancement in technologies for robotic/automated in-row weed control. This surge in recent activity is due in part to the advent of low-cost computing systems that utilize artificial intelligence and on-board imaging systems that identify and locate crop and weed plants in real-time. Entities developing these innovations are quite varied, ranging from small start-ups to well established companies to university and government researchers.  A quick internet search will reveal over 50 companies or university research groups working in this space. Many are domestically based, but the majority are from Europe where labor costs are very high and there is more resistance to and restrictions on herbicide use.

As you might expect, the diversity of approaches to the in-row weeding problem is wide. Methods for controlling in-row weeds include traditional methods such as mechanical hoeing and spot spraying, as well as alternative techniques such as spot spraying hot oil, flaming, lasers, high voltage electricity and microwaves. The use of fleets of small (1-row to 4-row) autonomous robots is a common theme, but there are also pulled implements equipped with actuators for automated weed removal.

I discussed some of these technologies at a technical breakout session at the 2020 Southwest Ag Summit. A link to the presentation is given below. It provides an overview of some of the latest developments, technologies and concepts for in-row weeding being worked on around the world. The presentation should be self-explanatory as it includes audio clips and company source information, but feel free to contact me for further information or if you have any questions. In future articles, I will discuss these technologies and concepts in more detail and how they might best fit into Arizona vegetable production systems.

Click on the video below to view the presentation on Technologies for
Robotic/Automated In-Row Weeding in Vegetable Crops: