US charges two men with smuggling laser equipment to Russia's nuclear sector

The US Attorney's office in Boston unveiled charges against two men accused of illegally exporting advanced laser equipment to support Russia's nuclear energy sector.

Machinery manufacturers, both large and small, are rolling out new solutions for herbicide reduction. Deere & Co., the world’s leading tractor manufacturer, is now in its second year of offering a high-end crop sprayer that claims to cut chemical applications by up to 77 per cent using AI and machine learning. Greeneye Technology from Israel has opened its first US retail location for AI-powered spray booms that can be retrofitted to existing machines, with plans to expand to eight more states next year. Brazil's Solinftec is producing robotic sprayers at an Indiana factory that it asserts can reduce herbicide use by more than 90 per cent, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“The chemical companies cannot fight against the reduction of herbicides,” stated Guilherme Guine, Solinftec’s chief sustainability officer. “Such technology is a ‘threat for sure because they drastically reduce the amount of inputs.’” While this emerging technology is still in its early stages and hasn't yet significantly impacted chemical makers' profits, companies are proactively adapting. Some are collaborating more closely with equipment manufacturers and developing new service models that provide farmers with agronomic guidance. “They’ve tried to position themselves to sell ‘better yield on your acre’ by effectively offering consulting and prescriptions,” said Jason Miner.

 For instance, BASF has teamed up with Bosch on a venture called One Smart Spray, which applies products only where needed and includes weed mapping to help farmers track savings via a mobile app. Bayer, aiming to shift from “volume to value” in crop protection, has created its own AI-powered spraying tool available through a subscription service. Bayer views these technological advancements as “neutral” overall, as they align with the industry's shift alongside farmers.

“We are totally aligned with companies like Deere and others in the automation and equipment space that have this aspiration to help a farmer really be better in terms of precision use of the various inputs that they use,” said Bob Reiter, global head of research and development for Bayer’s crop science division. “We want to maximize the output the farmers can create but minimize the inputs that they’re using.”

Although the new technology is expected to decrease the use of herbicides applied after weeds appear, some farmers may need to use more residual herbicides early on, noted Matt Leininger, managing director for North America and Australia at the Bosch-BASF joint venture, providing a buffer for the sector. 

By Naila Huseynova