TY - JOUR
T1 - Laser weed seed control
T2 - challenges and opportunities
AU - Andreasen, Christian
AU - Vlassi, Eleni
AU - Salehan, Najmeh
AU - Johannsen, Kenneth S.
AU - Jensen, Signe M.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Farmers are greatly interested in reducing weed seeds in their fields to avoidunnecessary weed infestation. Autonomous vehicles equipped with plantrecognition systems and lasers can be used to control weed plants and maytherefore be used to replace or supplement herbicides and mechanical weedcontrol. However, less is known about the ability of laser to control weed seeds.In this study, seeds of weeds (Alopecurus myosuroides, Anisantha sterilis, Avenafatua, Centaurea cyanus, Silene noctiflora) and crops (wheat (Triticum aestivum),maize (Zea mays)) were exposed to increasing dosages of laser energy. Thespecies represented dicots and monocots with different seed sizes andmorphology. We used a thulium-doped 50 W fiber laser with a wavelength of2 μm and a diameter of 2 mm developed for weed control. The seeds wereexposed to laser directly on the seed surface or after been covered with soil (2.5and 5 mm). Small doses of energy (0.4 J mm−2 and 0.8 J mm−2 ) affected thegermination ability of small seeds (S. noctiflora and C. cyanus) when the seedswere irradiated directly on the seed surface, and they were completely burned atthe high doses (8.0 J mm−2 and 15.9 J mm−2 ). However, there was not a clearrelationship between seed size and sensitivity to laser dose. Additionally,increasing the laser dose on the seed surface resulted in increasing infection offungi. Seeds covered with soil were not affected by the laser treatments except C.cyanus seeds. Controlling large seeds on the ground while weed seedlings arecontrolled with laser robots seems realistic in the future. However, dosageshigher than 50 J (~15.9 J mm−2 ) is necessary to control large seeds.
AB - Farmers are greatly interested in reducing weed seeds in their fields to avoidunnecessary weed infestation. Autonomous vehicles equipped with plantrecognition systems and lasers can be used to control weed plants and maytherefore be used to replace or supplement herbicides and mechanical weedcontrol. However, less is known about the ability of laser to control weed seeds.In this study, seeds of weeds (Alopecurus myosuroides, Anisantha sterilis, Avenafatua, Centaurea cyanus, Silene noctiflora) and crops (wheat (Triticum aestivum),maize (Zea mays)) were exposed to increasing dosages of laser energy. Thespecies represented dicots and monocots with different seed sizes andmorphology. We used a thulium-doped 50 W fiber laser with a wavelength of2 μm and a diameter of 2 mm developed for weed control. The seeds wereexposed to laser directly on the seed surface or after been covered with soil (2.5and 5 mm). Small doses of energy (0.4 J mm−2 and 0.8 J mm−2 ) affected thegermination ability of small seeds (S. noctiflora and C. cyanus) when the seedswere irradiated directly on the seed surface, and they were completely burned atthe high doses (8.0 J mm−2 and 15.9 J mm−2 ). However, there was not a clearrelationship between seed size and sensitivity to laser dose. Additionally,increasing the laser dose on the seed surface resulted in increasing infection offungi. Seeds covered with soil were not affected by the laser treatments except C.cyanus seeds. Controlling large seeds on the ground while weed seedlings arecontrolled with laser robots seems realistic in the future. However, dosageshigher than 50 J (~15.9 J mm−2 ) is necessary to control large seeds.
U2 - 10.3389/fagro.2024.1342372
DO - 10.3389/fagro.2024.1342372
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
JO - Frontiers in Agronomy
JF - Frontiers in Agronomy
SN - 2673-3218
ER -