Experiments comparing conventional and organic systems often report similar yields despite substantially higher weed abundance in the organic systems. A potential explanation for this observation is that weed– crop competition relationships differ between the two types of systems. We analysed weed and crop yield data from the Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial (FST), which provides a unique...

In the context of site-specific weed management by vision systems, an efficient image processing for a crop/weed discrimination is required in order to quantify the Weed Infestation Rate (WIR) in an image. This paper presents a modeling of crop field in presence of different Weed Infestation Rates and a set of simulated agronomic images is used to test and validate the effectiveness of a crop/w...

AUTOMATED precision weed spot spraying in the sugarcane industry has potential to increase production while reducing herbicide usage. However, commercially-available technologies based on sensing of weed optical properties are typically restricted to detecting weeds on a soil background (i.e. detection of green on brown) and are not suited to detecting weeds among a growing crop. Machine vision...

The differential weed-competitive abilities of eight rice genotypes and the traits that may confer such attributes were investigated under partial weedy and weed-free conditions in naturally occurring weed flora in dry direct-seeded rice during the rainy seasons of 2011 and 2012 at Ludhiana, Punjab, India. The results showed genotypic differences in competitiveness against weeds. In weed-free p...

The purpose of this study was to define the operational and performance characteristics of a commercially available monoclonal antibody based (mac) ELISA for detection of allergen-specific IgE in dogs. The average intra-assay variance over 1 year was 9.7% (range 2.5-62.7%), while the interassay variance averaged 10.8% (range 8.1-13.8%). The average positive control responses observed for grass,...

Weeds have been winner and will be winner in future climate change conditions because of more adaptive power and more diversity. Weed population will change with climate change and risks of invasiveness may increase. Effectiveness of current management practices may be affected. Most studies evaluated effect of single factor (elevated CO2) and only few studies have evaluated the interaction of ...

Autonomous robotic weed control systems hold promise toward the automation of one of agriculture’s few remaining unmechanized and drudging tasks, hand weed control. Robotic technology may also provide a means of reducing agriculture’s current dependency on herbicides, improving its sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. This review describes the current status of the four core te...

A novel approach to broadband log-periodic antenna design is presented, where some of the most powerful evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are applied and compared for the optimal design of wire log-periodic dipole arrays (LPDA) using NEC (Numerical Electromagnetics Code). The target is to achieve an optimal antenna design with respect to maximum gain, gain flatness, Front to Rear ratio (F/R) and SW...