Precision farming in weed control - system components and economic benefits

Information on temporal and spatial variation in weed seedling populations within agricultural fields is very important for weed population assessment and management. Most of all, it allows a reduction in herbicide use, when post-emergent herbicides are only applied to field sections with weed infestation levels higher than the economic weed threshold. This paper presents a system for site-specific weed control in sugar beet, maize, winter wheat and winter barley including on-line weed detection using digital image analysis, computer-based decision making and GPS-controlled patch spraying. The economic benefits were high in all crop when type and dosage of herbicides were varied according to weed distribution.