Not only are herbicides harmful to the environment, but they're also one more expense for the farmers who use them. That's where the Greeneye selective spraying system comes in, as it's claimed to only dispense herbicide when weeds are detected.
Developed by Israeli agri-tech company Greeneye Technology, the system consists of a series of downward-angled camera modules that are mounted along the length of a third-party herbicide boom sprayer. That sprayer can be towed by a tractor, or built into a dedicated spraying vehicle.
In either case, as the sprayer moves through the fields at speeds of up to 25 km/h (16 mph), Greeneye's AI-based computer vision system is reportedly able to differentiate between the crop plants and the weeds which pass beneath the modules. When a weed is spotted, the spray nozzle above that plant is activated to douse it with herbicide. As long as no weeds are spotted, though, no herbicide is dispensed.
By contrast, farmers typically just spray entire fields, in order to catch the weeds wherever they may be. This means that they go much more herbicide than would be required if they only sprayed the areas where weeds were present. That said, it should be noted that Greeneye does still allow users to spray their entire fields with residual herbicides, which stay in the soil to keep weeds from growing in the first place.
According to the company, Greeneye is also capable of counting crop plants, identifying specific weed species, and identifying diseases or deficiencies in the crops. It can additionally generate computer maps, showing the problem areas in each field.
The Greeneye system was commercially launched in Israel this October, with a limited rollout in the American midwest planned to take place early next year. Wider North American availability should follow in 2023.
It can be seen in use, in the following video.
Source: Greeneye Technology