Development of a pre-production prototype for a laser-based plant sensing weed control system

澳大利亚农民每年在除草剂上的花费超过8亿美元。拟议的技术可以减少80%的除草剂使用量(即每年节省超过6.4亿美元)，并将作物产量提高30%。在杂草和农作物上精确使用除草剂、化肥和营养素具有经济和环境效益，这将增加农场利润，并促进澳大利亚的出口销售。减少对生态系统的化学负荷将有利于环境，减少食物链中的化学物质将有利于澳大利亚人的健康。这一发展将使澳大利亚处于精密喷雾技术的前沿，并在许多领域有许多副产品应用。

Australian farmers spend over $800 million per annum on herbicides. The proposed technology can reduce herbicide usage by 80 per cent (i.e. over $640 million per annum saving) and improve crop yields by 30 per cent. Precision application of herbicides, fertilisers and nutrients to weeds and crops has both economic and environmental benefits which will increase farm profits and boost Australia's export sales. Reduced chemical loads on ecosystems will benefit the environment and reduced chemicals in the food chain will benefit the health of Australians. This development will put Australia at the cutting edge of precision spray technology and has numerous spin-off applications in many sectors.