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Better farming methods and farmers will probably not need such and invention. I think about no drill farming. This "weed problem" comes from a farming not goin

Better farming methods and farmers will probably not need such and invention. I think about no drill farming. This "weed problem" comes from a farming not going with but against the nature. So it's thought that technology will solve problems which are no problems if methods to farm are optimized.

Cd00d 5y ago
I think you're ignoring non-native species that can overwhelm an ecosystem. There's no going with nature with those "weeds".
jgwil2 5y ago
Surely there will always be wild plants (weeds) that compete with cultivated plants for sunlight, no?
- frankzander 5y ago
  if you mange the cover weeds than they compete with the unwanted weeds.
ashtonbaker 5y ago
I'm all about regenerative agriculture, permaculture, etc. But I've never seen a solution to weeds other than to spend a lot of manual labor removing them. Is there a method that reduces the number of weeds that appear, or reduces the need to remove them? I tend to think that solutions like this offer the possibility of the best of both worlds - automated (and therefore scalable) agriculture without the chemical dependency.
- janglytim 5y ago
  What about using animals to help with weed control[1], for example ducks used in rice paddies[2] or weeder geese? Also mulching and growing cover crops alongside and in succession with our crops [3] prevents weeds without as much labor as traditional wedding. For example planting clover around crops, which stays short and fixes nitrogen while competing with weeds. I wish we would spend more time rethinking our industrial farming practices, rather than try to prop them up with diesel burning robots. [1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236942635_Grazing_Animals_as_Weed_Control_Agents https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236942635_Grazing_A... [2] https://web-japan.org/trends01/article/021022sci_r.html https://web-japan.org/trends01/article/021022sci_r.html [3] https://eorganic.org/node/2535 https://eorganic.org/node/2535
  - ashtonbaker 5y ago
    The link at [1] seems to be mostly about "pasture and rangeland weed control" with limited applications to forestry and crops. The examples for those are good, but seem at a glance application-specific. The most general recommendation for crops is to use animals during the pasture rotation of a plot to reduce weed pressure during a growing rotation. [2]: Again, great, but very crop-specific. [3]: I've seen/used mulching on permaculture farms, and it seems like a fairly effective method. Also has the benefits of reducing the need for water, and regenerating topsoil via decomposition. But labor-intensive. The clover idea is very interesting and new to me. > I wish we would spend more time rethinking our industrial farming practices, rather than try to prop them up with diesel burning robots. Agree wholeheartedly! And if the answer is that more labor is required to farm sustainably, then I'm personally all for that. But I'm also pragmatic, and if we could improve the economics of sustainable farming by automating some of the manual labor, I think that would be great. I'm not sure this specific robot addresses that - it seems designed for industrial monoculture farms - but it's an interesting idea to me.
- frankzander 5y ago
  You never see one but there is one: cover weeds. Weeds are only grow where the soil is uncovered. In small scale you also can mulch with compost but in large scale you need other ways. One benefit of a covered soil is more moisture in the soil even in dry climates.
kstenerud 5y ago
No-till farming still requires weed removal. This robot would potentially eliminate the needs for herbicides.
- frankzander 5y ago
  how come if you cover the soil with cover weeds?
tpm 5y ago
Weeds are any plants competing for resources with the current crop. They will have to managed some way, hopefully with less negative externalities than in the current industrial monocultural farming.
adwn 5y ago
> This "weed problem" comes from a farming not going with but against the nature. All farming is "going against nature", by definition. Take a 100m by 100m field and let it go "with nature" for 10 years. Do you think it'll magically sprout tons of wheat? It'll be great for plants and animals, that's for sure, but we can't eat what will be growing there.

Cd00d 5y ago

I think you're ignoring non-native species that can overwhelm an ecosystem. There's no going with nature with those "weeds".

jgwil2 5y ago

Surely there will always be wild plants (weeds) that compete with cultivated plants for sunlight, no?

frankzander 5y ago
if you mange the cover weeds than they compete with the unwanted weeds.

ashtonbaker 5y ago

I'm all about regenerative agriculture, permaculture, etc. But I've never seen a solution to weeds other than to spend a lot of manual labor removing them. Is there a method that reduces the number of weeds that appear, or reduces the need to remove them? I tend to think that solutions like this offer the possibility of the best of both worlds - automated (and therefore scalable) agriculture without the chemical dependency.

janglytim 5y ago
What about using animals to help with weed control[1], for example ducks used in rice paddies[2] or weeder geese? Also mulching and growing cover crops alongside and in succession with our crops [3] prevents weeds without as much labor as traditional wedding. For example planting clover around crops, which stays short and fixes nitrogen while competing with weeds. I wish we would spend more time rethinking our industrial farming practices, rather than try to prop them up with diesel burning robots. [1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236942635_Grazing_Animals_as_Weed_Control_Agents https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236942635_Grazing_A... [2] https://web-japan.org/trends01/article/021022sci_r.html https://web-japan.org/trends01/article/021022sci_r.html [3] https://eorganic.org/node/2535 https://eorganic.org/node/2535
- ashtonbaker 5y ago
  The link at [1] seems to be mostly about "pasture and rangeland weed control" with limited applications to forestry and crops. The examples for those are good, but seem at a glance application-specific. The most general recommendation for crops is to use animals during the pasture rotation of a plot to reduce weed pressure during a growing rotation. [2]: Again, great, but very crop-specific. [3]: I've seen/used mulching on permaculture farms, and it seems like a fairly effective method. Also has the benefits of reducing the need for water, and regenerating topsoil via decomposition. But labor-intensive. The clover idea is very interesting and new to me. > I wish we would spend more time rethinking our industrial farming practices, rather than try to prop them up with diesel burning robots. Agree wholeheartedly! And if the answer is that more labor is required to farm sustainably, then I'm personally all for that. But I'm also pragmatic, and if we could improve the economics of sustainable farming by automating some of the manual labor, I think that would be great. I'm not sure this specific robot addresses that - it seems designed for industrial monoculture farms - but it's an interesting idea to me.
frankzander 5y ago
You never see one but there is one: cover weeds. Weeds are only grow where the soil is uncovered. In small scale you also can mulch with compost but in large scale you need other ways. One benefit of a covered soil is more moisture in the soil even in dry climates.

kstenerud 5y ago

No-till farming still requires weed removal. This robot would potentially eliminate the needs for herbicides.

frankzander 5y ago
how come if you cover the soil with cover weeds?

tpm 5y ago

Weeds are any plants competing for resources with the current crop. They will have to managed some way, hopefully with less negative externalities than in the current industrial monocultural farming.

adwn 5y ago

> This "weed problem" comes from a farming not going with but against the nature. All farming is "going against nature", by definition. Take a 100m by 100m field and let it go "with nature" for 10 years. Do you think it'll magically sprout tons of wheat? It'll be great for plants and animals, that's for sure, but we can't eat what will be growing there.