Automated Mechanical Weeding

One of the most important agriculture practices is to properly manage weeds because weeds negatively affect crop yield and quality. There are many types of commercial mechanical weeders that use the three main physical techniques: burying, cutting, and uprooting to controlling weeds. Two categories of mechanical weed control approaches, inter-row and intra-row mechanical weeding, are reviewed and discussed. Specifically, the most commonly used manual inter-row mechanical weeding tools are reviewed and compared according to their working principles. The more challenging area of intra-row mechanical weeding is reviewed, and manually operated intra-row mechanical weed control tools are compared. The current state of the art in automated mechanical weeding is discussed along with some cutting-edge technologies for intra-row mechanical weed control found in industry and the research community.