Drone-sprayed weed killer works almost as well as tractors
Invasive Species
If you've ever wondered how farms near you manage weeds before planting, this shows drones can do the job with a fraction of the water and ground equipment a tractor needs.
Researchers in Mexico tested whether a drone could spray weed killer as effectively as a traditional tractor-mounted sprayer on a weedy field species called common sunflower. The drone covered way less of the plant surface with spray, but it still killed the weeds almost as well as the tractor, and even beat it with one herbicide. That means farmers could switch to drones for pre-planting weed control and use less water in the process.
Key Findings
Tractor sprayers achieved 40.8-53.6% spray coverage on leaves, while drones only achieved 1.9-2.6% coverage.
Despite the huge coverage gap, both methods gave comparable overall weed control on common sunflower.
The tractor sprayer worked slightly better with paraquat, glyphosate, and ammonium glufosinate, but the drone was more effective with 2,4-D.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Drones spray herbicide with far less coverage than tractor sprayers but still kill weeds nearly as well, meaning farmers can use drones to control common sunflower weeds while saving water and equipment costs.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Effectiveness of Two Herbicide Application Methods for Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Control in Northern Tamaulipas, México
Herbicide application using drones has increased considerably worldwide because of its operational efficiency and ease of use. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two he...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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The common sunflower is a large annual forb in the daisy family Asteraceae. The domesticated form of common sunflower is harvested for its edible seeds, which come in two types: oil and confectionary seeds. Oilseed sunflowers are widely grown globally and represent the fourth most used vegetable ...