Spot-specific treatments offers a lot of benefits. Farmers can greatly reduce their chemical usage. It’s also better for the crop and has less impact on the environment as well. You don’t harm the crop, you only kill the weeds.
Task maps or zone maps are then needed. Input can come from maps reflecting soil types, topography, or pest maps made by drones.
With individually-controlled close-spaced nozzles, a Condor additionally equipped with Agrifac’s DynamicDosePlus technology can deliver variable rates from each nozzle in a minimum width of 25cm (10in) under the control of a prescription map.
As well as this, new sensors have allowed sprayers to basically leapfrog this approach and treat each plant uniquely. These sensors identify plants directly and create an immediate treatment response.
One of these techniques is the Intelligent Spot Spraying System from Bilberry. Agrifac developed AiCPlus, for Condor self-propelled sprayers. Agrifac has RGB colour cameras mounted on the boom, recognising weeds and crops based on shape, structure and contrast. They detect certain weeds and will only apply chemical where the weed is. That way you use less chemicals and you only kill the weeds, so it’s better for the crop and has less impact on the environment as well.
First trials already saw enormous savings.
Gerrit Kurstjens, Beefwood Farms, Moree, NSWWith Agrifac’s AiCPlus system, I am able to achieve the desired spot spraying during summer spraying (Green on Brown) and achieve about 90% reduction in chemicals and water. With only one fill it is easy to cover 1000 ha in one day.
Precision Farming
With precision farming you are able to determine the NEED for crop protection per square metre. This allows very precise and sufficient treatment of your crops. This is different from traditional farming where there is much more global determination per field.
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Drift Reduction Spraying
Spraying should be as efficient and safe as possible. During spraying, drift is undesirable. Losses have to be reduced to get as much as possible of the sprayed chemical on target. The entry of active ingredients into for example surface waters and fringe structures must be avoided
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Camera Spraying
There are smart spraying technologies available that work on identifying green material on brown through cameras. This technology allows farmers to only spray where there is a weed.
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Air Assisted Spraying
Air-assisted boom sprayers are developed for a number of reasons. Air-assisted spraying opens the crop canopy, exposes all foliar surfaces, carries small droplets to the target, improving coverage and reducing drift.
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Vertical Spraying
A vertical spray boom can be the answer for tall crops such as asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. A vertical spray boom ensures an optimal crop penetration. The positions of the nozzles can easily be adapted to the height of the crop and can be shut off by nozzle.
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Pulse With Modulation Spraying
Farmers need the guarantee that a solution is sprayed with the desired rate at the right place, so the solution can work, protect, and feed the right plants at the right place. With StrictSprayPlus you can and will apply perfect amounts everywhere at all times.
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NEED Farming
Precision farming is not precise enough. To make the next step in agriculture, we need care at the plant level. Back to the basics of farming: taking care of every individual plant, but armed with the latest technologies.
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