Friday, March 29, 2024

The low-technology road

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High-tech advances in artificial intelligence-driven weeding technologies are coming out of Europe but researchers warn they may not be the most effective way to go for non-chemical weed control methods to replace ineffective herbicides. 
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While getting back to basics and reaching for the hoe may not be feasible some very low-tech approaches, such as intra-row mini-ridging, can outperform the highest technology and for a fraction of the cost, Dr Simon Hodge, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Lincoln, said 

Intra-row mini-ridging is the simple technique of burying weeds under the soil between rows with a mini-ridging machine that has been proven to kill weed seedlings growing under the crop plant. 

“These ‘close to crop’ weeds are by far the most critical ones to control as they exert the largest competitive effect against the crop and therefore disproportionately contribute to yield losses,” Lincoln’s Charles Merfield said. 

“None of the high-tech weeders can kill these weeds due to fundamental design limitations so in this situation low-tech can beat high-tech with considerable financial benefits for farmers and growers,” he said.

  • For more information on non-chemical weed control go to bit.ly/1K2S2PT
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