new weeder

[dr-solo]

" Researchers at the University of Illinois are working on a small robot that can identify individual weeds in a field and spray them with herbicide so farmers don't have to spray an entire field as they commonly do now. The robot will move perhaps 2 mph picking out weeds by color, location and other characteristics, engineer Lei Tina said.

"Actually we have a prototype," he said. "We can identify the individual plant pretty well.""

[ray.cruz]

Is there a question here?

Obviously a robot to ultimately reduce the use of herbicides is good.

Which raises the question, why not a robot to eliminate the use of herbicides altogether? Is that a thought outside the herbicide box? Do our universities have any funding to develop and test products that don't use chemicals made by Monsanto? Of course, the University of Illinois folks are genuinely concerned about the use of herbicides, pesticides, just like the rest of us. Right?

I envision a robot weeder that can identify weeds for various crops and that can zap them with a laser or even a mechanical weeding tool, weed puller, weed twister, or weed smasher? This would be REAL PROGRESS, in my humble opinion.

To spray or to zap, that's the robot question?

Keep on thinking... (outside the chemical box)...

[Bill]

About 20 years ago my coworker grew about 10 acres of soybeans. Being new to the farming way of doing things he never cultivated or used a herbicide. Come harvest time he contacted a few combine folks who said his field was too weedy. Searching on he came upon a thresher who said wait for a killing frost. He then was able to have the combine come in and do the work.

Bill

[dr-solo]