Reducing herbicide usage in the Burdekin and Proserpine reef catchment areas with precise robotic weed control in sugarcane (Old ID 26973)
Role
Chief Investigator
Description
The main objective of this project is to develop and build the world’s first robotic platform for selective weed control in sugarcane. Specifically, we aim to retrofit two 12-metre sugarcane booms for farmers in the Burdekin and Proserpine GBR catchment areas with state-of-the-art deep learning detection and spraying technology. The fundamental aim of this project is to significantly minimise the herbicide usage by selective spot spraying. We have set a target to reduce the knockdown herbicide usage on the chosen farms by 80% compared to the traditional blanket spraying that is performed during various stages of the crop cycle.
Date
25 Sep 2020 - 30 Jun 2025
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
precision agriculture;Deep Learning;automatic weed control;Robotic;weed management
Funding Body
Autoweed Pty Ltd, Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Amount
1159837
Project Team
Ronald White;Bronson Philippa;Brendan Calvert