Australian vegetable growing is experiencing rapid transformation through innovative technologies. These advances help address industry challenges—such as labour shortages and high input costs—while boosting sustainability, productivity, and quality.
Key Technologies Empowering the Industry
+ Precision Agriculture (PA)
+ Automation and Robotics
+ Digital Tools and Internet of Things (IoT)
+ Tech-enabled Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
+ Smart Irrigation Systems
+ Drones
+ Advanced Plant Genetics
Laser Weeder
A laser weeder is a technology that uses lasers to eliminate weeds in agricultural settings. It combines computer vision, AI, and robotics to identify and target weeds with laser beams, effectively killing them without disturbing the soil or requiring chemical herbicides.
Carbon Robotics is a manufacturer of commercial laser weeders, offering different models like the LaserWeeder G2 for various farm sizes and crop types.
The technology is currently being used in crops like carrots and tomatoes, and is being expanded to support onions, garlic, parsnips, and strawberries.
Images and content supplied by Carbon Robotics
On Farm Automation Enhancing Horticulture Efficiency
Hosted by Andy Clark from Agriculture Victoria, this 46-minute webinar dives into automation technologies with insights from Bird Beam and Fieldin Technologies. It’s geared toward boosting productivity in a changing climate.
Gatton AgTech Showcase
This wrap-up video provides an overview of the successful Gatton AgTech Showcase hosted by the Gatton Smart Farm on 1-2 November 2023. Around 1000 visitors from across Australia and the world saw the latest innovations in AgTech in action, dealing with the Lockyer Valley’s farming conditions.
Making decisions using hyper-local weather forecasts webinar
Jane’s Weather is a precision weather forecasting platform that combines global weather models with unique observations from the farm level. It provides customised weather forecasts and insights, enhanced by AI specific to operations. Josh and Jane showed how use of precision hardware and weather station networks, combined with cutting edge AI forecast modelling, empowers growers to precisely mitigate risks and optimise operations around changeable weather.