Robotics Ready To Displace Hand Weeding?
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Herbicides and spray technology have come a long way, but there are still certain crops that require a lot of hand weeding due to a number of factors. That may be changing thanks to new technology like Verdant Robotics’ Sharpshooter. Co-founder Gabe Sibley says the ability to aim and spray precisely is a game changer for many specialty crops.
Sibley… “ There's a lot of crops where there's no genetically selective herbicide available. And so, you know, in those crops you just can't hit 'em with any herbicide. And so instead of selecting genetically, we select spatially. And if it's a high density crop, you just can't go in with, you know, a. spray paint and hit things. You'll knock the crop back, set it back, reduce yields. And our machine has just got the precision to park a BB between carrots that are less than an inch apart, or put a little shot up underneath the head of lettuce. And so there's a lot of specialty crops where you really benefit from that specific treatment. And at the same time, you can go do regular spraying with the same machine. So it covers a bunch of bases.”
The company had a presence at World Ag Expo last week and says after years of product development and field testing, they are ready to scale.
Sibley… “ So we've got machines being manufactured at a pretty good clip so we can supply the machines to growers. They're ready.”
Learn more at verdantrobotics.com.
