The news marks a major milestone in the company's stated mission to significantly reduce chemical usage in agriculture and increase productivity and profitability for farmers. The company has secured its first commercial sale with one of the largest farming operations in Israel.
Significantly, this news represents the first stage in Greeneye’s global roll-out, which will continue in early 2022 with its launch in North America, where it will initially work with corn and soybean farmers in the Midwest, before increasing availability to other states in 2023. Reflecting the growing demand from farmers for a commercially-viable precision spraying solution, Greeneye’s early adopter program in North America was oversubscribed within days of its announcement, and the company already has a long waiting list of customers for 2023.
The company has received backing from leading global agrochemical manufacturer, Syngenta, and has developed a proprietary precision spraying technology that is proven to cut herbicide use by 78% and reduce herbicide costs by more than 50% (average figures) while also improving weed control efficacy compared to traditional broadcast spraying (see video).
AI technology is used to detect and spray weeds amongst crops (green on green) with 95.7% accuracy. Crucially, the system is designed to integrate seamlessly into any brand or size of commercial sprayer, removing the need for farmers to invest in new machines. It also ensures that precision spraying can be carried out at the same travel speed as broadcast spraying – 20 km/h – ensuring no reduction in productivity for farmers.
Greeneye uses a combination of hardware and deep machine learning to enable intelligent, real-time weed management decisions in the field. Cameras mounted directly onto spraying machines capture images at a rate of 40 frames per second, enabling rapid detection and classification of weeds down to the species level. Utilizing Greeneye’s proprietary dataset and algorithms, the system instantly calculates the amount of herbicide required and sprays it directly onto the weeds, leaving nearby crops unaffected.
Another important advantage of the technology is its unique dual-spraying function which enables farmers to apply residual herbicides on a broadcast basis while applying non-residual herbicides precisely on weeds. Currently, farmers mix together residual and non-residual herbicides and spray them from the same nozzle, meaning they use far more non-residual herbicide than is needed. The dual-spraying system overcomes this challenge by enabling farmers to spray only the herbicide that is required.
