Project launch: Eco-poisonous plant identification
Farmers specializing in crops, such as medicinal plants, are constantly confronted with the presence of poisonous plants (PA plants) and weeds in their fields. Selecting PA plants from already harvested herbs is impossible during processing and leads to the destruction of the entire harvest from the herb field. Just six PA plants are enough to render a field with approximately 60,000 herb plants unusable.
Traditionally, many farmers rely on the time-consuming and labor-intensive manual removal of weeds and poisonous plants. Only a few plant protection products are approved across the EU, further complicating the management of poisonous and weedy plants. The combination of market-ready drone technology and artificial intelligence for poisonous plant and weed detection could be the key to this urgently needed solution, offering farmers a very simple, time-saving, and cost-effective tool.
The EIP project of the "ARGE Giftpflanzenerkennung" (Working Group for Poisonous Plant Recognition) aims to identify unwanted poisonous plants and weeds on agricultural land using drone technology and artificial intelligence, enabling targeted treatment. The technology allows for the creation of precise distribution maps that show farmers the exact location of poisonous plants, thus facilitating efficient treatment of the affected areas. This leads to a significant reduction in chemical use and labor, increases efficiency, and minimizes environmental impact.
To assess the economic and environmental benefits of using this technology, a data collection catalog will be developed in this project. Farmers will use this catalog to record data on working hours and material consumption. Based on this data, the eco-efficiency of using this technology will be evaluated using the farm management tool FarmLife. This will allow for a detailed understanding of the technology's economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. The conclusions of these evaluations will provide recommendations for the future use of the technology and identify potential areas for improvement.
