• Login/Join
    • Login
    • Join Agri-TechE
Menu
  • Login/Join
    • Login
    • Join Agri-TechE
  • Home
  • About
    • About Agri-TechE
    • Stakeholder Group
    • Introductions to the agri-tech cluster
    • International
    • Agri-Tech Briefings
      • Controlled Environment Agriculture
      • Gene editing consultation – what does it mean for agri-tech?
      • Controlling light in farming
      • What is ELMs? Agri-Tech to support Environmental Land Management
    • Agri-TechE Newsletters
      • Sign up to the newsletter
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Agri-TechE activities, conferences and missions for 2022
    • REAP Conference 2022
    • Agri-Tech Week
    • Our Publications
  • Articles
    • Agri-tech News
    • Member News
    • Monthly Musings
    • Innovator Spotlight
    • Leaders in the Field
    • Agri-Tech Archives
  • Community
    • Research Digest
    • Opportunity Zone
    • Young Innovators’ Forum
    • Funding Latest
  • Members
    • Directory
    • Become an Agri-TechE Member
    • Member Testimonials
    • Increasing your profile
    • Agri-TechE Member Drop-In
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Agri-TechE
    • Stakeholder Group
    • Introductions to the agri-tech cluster
    • International
    • Agri-Tech Briefings
      • Controlled Environment Agriculture
      • Gene editing consultation – what does it mean for agri-tech?
      • Controlling light in farming
      • What is ELMs? Agri-Tech to support Environmental Land Management
    • Agri-TechE Newsletters
      • Sign up to the newsletter
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Agri-TechE activities, conferences and missions for 2022
    • REAP Conference 2022
    • Agri-Tech Week
    • Our Publications
  • Articles
    • Agri-tech News
    • Member News
    • Monthly Musings
    • Innovator Spotlight
    • Leaders in the Field
    • Agri-Tech Archives
  • Community
    • Research Digest
    • Opportunity Zone
    • Young Innovators’ Forum
    • Funding Latest
  • Members
    • Directory
    • Become an Agri-TechE Member
    • Member Testimonials
    • Increasing your profile
    • Agri-TechE Member Drop-In
  • Contact Us

Search

More results…

Generic filters
Exact matches only

  • Agri-Tech Week, REAP 2019, Robotics
  • REAP 2019, Robotics

Robotics could address the challenge of weeding and feeding the planet

  • November 1, 2019
  • 12:22 pm

Nikolaos Koukiasas“Meeting the world’s requirements for more food by 2050 is a daunting task given current weed control methods,” says Nikolaos Koukiasas of The University of Reading, who is discussing his work at REAP 2019.

“Pressures from policy makers and consumers regarding the use of pesticides make sure that this increase in productivity will have to occur in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

“The lack of herbicides and the increasing cost of manual weeding are driving innovation in weed management programmes. Technologies such as autonomous robotic weeders use cameras to distinguish the crop from the weed and then herbicide is applied as a single droplet directly to the leaves of the unwanted plants. Field trials have shown that this method of herbicide application provides high levels of weed control and can reduce herbicide use by over 90 per cent when compared to current spraying methods without significant yield loss. Economic analyses have demonstrated that it would be highly profitable to use an autonomous machine compared to broadcast spraying with a tractor.

“The long-term prospects for controlling weeds do not look promising without new herbicides or a coordinated strategy to manage herbicide-resistant weeds. However trends in robotics and life sciences suggest that there are a number of options available for improving weed control which could be integrated with existing methods to create more sustainable weed management systems.”

Nikolaos Koukiasas is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading.

Read more about REAP 2019 here.

Share

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Related Posts
  • REAP – Innovating towards One Agriculture not limited by age or geography
  • World’s first ‘hopper’ robot could halve farmers’ herbicide use
  • Slug pellet ban is forcing an era of innovation for farmers
  • Walking in the shoes of medieval farmers provides context for precision farming
  • Sustainable agriculture has important role in One Health
Archives

Agri-TechE on Twitter

Tweets by AgriTechE 

MORE INFORMATION

  • News archive
  • Privacy
  • Events
  • Newsletter sign-up
  • View latest newsletter
Menu
  • News archive
  • Privacy
  • Events
  • Newsletter sign-up
  • View latest newsletter
Twitter Facebook Youtube Linkedin Instagram

© Agri-TechE 2022

Site design by Out of House