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Economic evaluation of a weed‐activated sprayer for herbicide application to patchy weed populations
Author(s) -
Bennett Anne L.,
Pannell David J
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australian journal of agricultural and resource economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.683
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-8489
pISSN - 1364-985X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8489.00059
Subject(s) - sprayer , weed , weed control , boom , crop , agronomy , environmental science , agricultural engineering , nozzle , agroforestry , biology , environmental engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering
Spatial distribution of weeds in a crop is patchy. Traditional boom sprayers waste herbicide by applying it to areas where weed density is already low. A new technology, Weed Activated Spray Process (WASP), uses sensors to detect the presence of weeds and control spray nozzles accordingly. The economic benefits of this technology to extensive crop farmers in Western Australia are investigated using a model based on the economics of information. Existing technology is likely to reduce profits because the weed density at which it switches off spraying is too high. Even if sensitivity to low densities could be improved, likely benefits of pre‐crop usage would still be very low or negative.