A comparative applied analysis of six robotic-assisted weeding systems in sugar beets

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60460709%3A41210%2F25%3A102583" target="_blank" >RIV/60460709:41210/25:102583 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/pse/2025/11/03.pdf" target="_blank" >https://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/pse/2025/11/03.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/335/2025-PSE" target="_blank" >10.17221/335/2025-PSE</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

A comparative applied analysis of six robotic-assisted weeding systems in sugar beets

Original language description

Effective weed management is crucial in the critical period of sugar beet production, but often lacks sustainability and environmental protection. Recent advancements in sensor-based weed control systems have rendered the latter a realistic prospect, which demands detailed analyses, especially under suboptimal field conditions. The present study analysed six robotic-assisted weed control systems (RAWS) in three experiments on sugar beets in 2024, conducted under dry soil and high weed pressure. The experiments included sensor-based inter-row and intra-row hoeing, spot- and band-spraying and were compared to a broadcast herbicide treatment and an untreated control. Weed control efficacy (WCE) in the intra- and inter-row areas, as well as weed species composition and crop plant damage, were assessed after treatment. The data show that intra-row WCE of two hoeing robots (Farming GT® and Robovator®) equipped with selective intra-row blades achieved up to 80%, which was higher than the broadcast herbicide control with 67% WCE. In the inter-row area, Farming GT® robotic hoeing and ARA® spot-spraying resulted in more than 90% WCE, which was equal to the broadcast herbicide application. Weed species composition was not affected by the different RAWS. Crop plants were affected by all hoeing treatments with maximum non-lethal burial rates of 33%. The highest lethal uprooting of crop plants occurred after Farming GT® robotic hoeing, at 5.5% overall. The results demonstrate the great potential of robotic weeding to replace broadcast herbicide applications.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

40106 - Agronomy, plant breeding and plant protection; (Agricultural biotechnology to be 4.4)

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Plant, Soil and Environment

ISSN

1214-1178

e-ISSN

1805-9368

Volume of the periodical

71

Issue of the periodical within the volume

11

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

782-792

UT code for WoS article

001627300300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105024417972