For the past three years, Terry Aberhart has watched spindle-shaped, fixed-wing drones test the technology, soaring in the great sky above his farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. Equipped with an artificial intelligence system, the drones were designed by local startup Precision AI to detect, identify and destroy weeds without soaking the entire crop with chemicals.

“I’m on the list for one of the first machines when they become available,” says Aberhart, a sustainable agriculture enthusiast. “Current technology is designed for maximum coverage and impacts everything in the field.”

For decades, crops like maize and wheat have been planted with tractors that move across large farmlands, spraying waterfalls of herbicides from long arms that reach over crops to kill weeds that are often small and messy.

This traditional “spray everything” approach not only harms the environment but also incurs huge financial costs. In 2022 alone, Aberhart spent about C$1 million ($745,000) on herbicides to protect wheat, canola and legumes grown in a steppe larger than Manhattan. “Even if we could save 50% on average, that’s a huge savings,” he says.

The issue of sustainable weed control is more relevant today than ever before. Scientists say global warming has accelerated the growth of some weeds that compete with crops for nutrients and threaten food security. But the herbicide sprayed by farmers harms the environment, pollutes the soil, pollutes drinking water and contributes to the catastrophic loss of biodiversity.

A 2020 study found that prolonged exposure to weedicides, including those approved by regulators, poses a threat to water fleas, a species vital to the aquatic ecosystem. And pressure is mounting on food producers around the world to rethink their intensive farming practices; Last year, leaders of 195 countries signed a historic agreement, with the support of the United Nations, committing to protecting and restoring at least 30% of the Earth’s land and water by 2030.

Using robotics and computer technology to assist agricultural production is not a new concept; Researchers at the University of Florida explored the possibility of a robot orange picker in the 1980s. But recent technological advances in artificial intelligence, coupled with labor shortages and growing consumer demand for ethically and sustainably produced food, have fueled innovation.

“There are many recent developments and efforts to use automated robotic solutions in agriculture,” says Manoj Karki, professor of agricultural engineering at Washington State University. “We are closer than ever to getting started with these technologies.”

Precision agriculture, an all-encompassing term that encompasses everything from AI-powered weeding machines to sensor-controlled smart irrigation systems, will cost US$15.6 billion by 2030, up from $8.5 billion last year, according to consulting firm Markets and Markets. will be worth the dollar. To take action, Israeli startup Greeneye Technology is helping to upgrade traditional sprayers to smarter machines that can identify and target weeds individually. Bosch BASF Smart Farming, a joint venture of Europe’s two largest holdings, offered a similar solution.