GPS-Based Intra-Row Weed Control System: Performance and Labor Savings

Abstract

Researchers at UC Davis and elsewhere have demonstrated the technical feasibility of using RTK-GPS technology to automatically create crop plant maps at planting (Sun et al., 2010; Perez-Ruiz, 2011). This paper describes the development and field evaluation of a completely automatic system for intra-row weed control in tomato fields. This system uses an automatically generated GPS crop plant map to automatically control the path of a set of mechanical intra-row weed knives in order to kill weeds growing between tomato plants in the seedline. The manual labor savings were evaluated in controlled field trials and the labor savings benefits associated with the use of this system are reported.