Targeted weed-spraying can save tomato farmers 71% of the herbicide they use, new University of Florida research shows. It also cuts input costs related to weed management for growers by 75%.
The results mean that targeted spray technology lowers the amount of herbicides in the environment, said Nathan Boyd, lead scientist on the new study.
These findings are crucial to the Florida tomato industry, which is valued at almost $500 million annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service. Most Florida tomatoes are grown in open fields, using plasticulture, a system in which the crop is planted in raised beds of soil that are covered with plastic mulch.
“With the standard method, we would have applied herbicides over an entire area,” said Boyd, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) professor of horticultural sciences. “Targeted spray technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect weeds allows you to apply herbicides only where the weeds grow.”
The new study is the first to show that combining several targeted spray methods into one weed-control program can work effectively for vegetable crops like tomatoes — offering significant economic benefits, Boyd said.
“In farming systems that use plastic mulch, weeds often grow in the spaces between planting rows, in the holes where crops like tomatoes are planted and even through the plastic itself,” he said. “Farmers usually spray herbicides over the entire field, even though weeds tend to occur in patches.”
Thanks in part to funding from the USDA, Boyd and his team used AI technology to spray weeds in three distinct locations in tomato fields at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC).
Scientists sprayed three ways:
- They aimed at weeds growing in the bare soil between the raised plastic-covered beds, rather than spraying the entire area.
- They sprayed into transplant holes on top of plastic beds. Weeds can emerge in this area and compete directly with the crop. Boyd’s technology uses machine vision to locate each hole in the plastic and apply herbicide only in those transplant holes, which drastically lowers overall herbicide use.
- They targeted nutsedge. This is a weed that punctures the plastic on the bed.Boyd’s team uses machine vision to locate the nutsedge and only applies herbicides where the weeds grow.
Targeted spraying worked just as well as traditional spraying to control weeds, said Boyd, a faculty member at GCREC.
For a few years, Boyd has been using AI to vanquish weeds with precision. He’s particularly interested in tomato-growing systems that use plastic mulch.
Weeds compete with the crops for resources, such as water and nutrients, so that lowers yield, Boyd said. They also lower the quality of fruits and vegetables and increase the cost of managing your farm because they have to be removed.
Florida tomato farmers have used integrated weed management programs to optimize weed control for decades, Boyd said.
“From the beginning, we let the growers identify for us what their needs are,” Boyd said. “Our research programs are based on their needs and us addressing their problems. This novel technology adds the capability for early weed detection, targeted management, and on-going tracking of weed populations over time.”
In the future, Boyd said he hopes to commercialize these technologies to growers.
“We want to support growers. We want them to stay in business and be more efficient,” he said.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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