Читать книгу Herbicides and Plant Physiology - Andrew H. Cobb - Страница 41

Instead of spraying a whole field, precision technology can now be used to direct sprays to the weedy areas only, reducing blanket spraying and resulting in environmental benefits, such as introducing less herbicide into the environment. Aerial drones can be used to create weed maps, identifying areas to be treated. Image analysis technology is becoming increasingly refined to detect small differences in vegetation owing to weeds, often by spectral information alone and dedicated software that can identify known shapes and growth habits of weeds. Aerial photography of a crop can also be a valuable, non‐destructive method to monitor weed spread and control over time. Unmanned ground vehicles with mounted sprayers can then treat the weeds as detected. Indeed, it is perhaps only a matter of time before robotics are more widely used to monitor, detect and ensure precision weed control.