- Ecorobotix and Eureden have carried out tests of the ARA weeding sprayer under real conditions during summer 2021 over more than 40 hectares of beans in the region of Pontivy (France).
- Eureden, a co-operative agribusiness group in Brittany, and Ecorobotix, a designer and manufacturer of artificial intelligence-based, ultra-high precision sprayers, have been partners on vegetable crops since 2017.
- The results are promising with a reduction of 70% on average of using crop protection products and a good controlling of weeds on the plots treated.
Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 2 December 2021. Ecorobotix carried out tests with the ARA sprayer over more than 40 hectares of beans in partnership with Eureden’s vegetable business. The results demonstrate a reduction of 70% on average of using crop protection products over the area treated, while allowing for a normal harvesting and recovery of crops.
ARA’s artificial intelligence, in response to farmers’ problems
ARA is a high-precision sprayer which allows for a targeted application of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides or fertilisers for an ecological and economical treatment of row crops (beetroot, colza, potato sprouts, corn, soya, etc.), open field vegetables (beans, onions, lettuce, spinach, etc.), grasslands and intercrops. Ecorobotix’s patented technology allows high-resolution images of plants to be captured. These images are then analysed by the computer embedded in the sprayer in order to classify these plants. After analysis and identification, the targets are watered by ultra-short jets, up to a precision of 8x3cm. Ecorobotix thus operates artificial intelligence technology to favour the transition to more sustainable farming, which is more respectful of the environment, while enabling farmers to make savings.
The ARA sprayer offers producers and farmers numerous advantages over other types of weeding methods: a decrease in the quantity of chemical products used, high reduction in residue and phytotoxicity on crops, improved yield depending on the crop.
Results demonstrating a technology which is precise and effective on beans
The tests with ARA were carried out between mid-July and mid-August 2021 in Pontivy (France) over ten fields of beans, totalling more than 40 hectares.
Eureden carried out a comparative test on each plot, by treating one area with ARA and another area with a full-fledged treatment.
This difference in treatment has resulted in the following conclusions:
- Reduction in quantities of active materials used of 70%, with up to 85% reduction of the area treated.
- Destruction of 95% of weeds over the areas treated, which complies with conventional technical methods, and enables a normal mechanised harvest and industrial recovery.
- Identical quantity harvested, even with a decrease of 70% of product used. There is no unwelcome competition from the weeds.
After these first substantial results, Eureden will work on a model that will be rolled out on a large scale which will be used on beans, and the partnership with Ecorobotix will be extended through new tests of the ARA sprayer on different crops.
"We started the partnership with Ecorobotix several years ago, as we spotted a potential for greatly reducing the use of herbicides, while maintaining a good level of effectiveness in the context of our vegetable subsidiary. Precise targeting, including in rows, of the seedlings of undesirable weeds, sometimes problematic for the end consumer, is an interesting response. The results obtained this year are really satisfying after several years of working together: they pave the way to a new approach with weeding as regards our vegetable crops. We can combine our agroecological ambition of reducing crop protection products and a satisfactory effectiveness in terms of agronomical success and food safety. It is now about developing a large-scale rollout, in line with the economic model."
Julien Prat, Deputy Manager Vegetables Industry, Eureden group.
About the Eureden group
The co-operative group from Brittany, Eureden, brings together 20,000 co-operative farmers and 9,000 collaborators around one common ambition: healthy eating for all, with the ongoing concern of responding to the expectations of consumers and of society.
The Eureden group is composed of 6 branches (Farming, Eggs, Meat, Frozen Food, Long Life and Green Distribution) and has 60 industrial sites, 300 stores intended for cooperative farmers and the general public, as well as a portfolio of strong brands such as D’aucy, Jean Nicolas, Globus, Paysan Breton, Cocotine, Aubret, Point Vert and Magasin Vert.
