The use of AN electrical current as a weed-destroying mode of action continues to gain traction globally.

An electrical current, like the broad-spectrum herbicides it is being developed to replace, affects only the treated plants and kills the affected plant to the root — without chemical toxicity, residues or the development of weed resistance.

Crop.Zone

In June 2022, Germany’s Crop.Zone announced that it raised $11 million in funding for its electrical weeding system. The volt.fuel electro-weeder combines an electrical current with a proprietary conductive-enhancing solution dubbed Hybrid Herbicide to kill affected plants at the root.

The liquid Hybrid Herbicide is a solution of humic products, sugars, bio-char and oil esters to pre-treat weed species before passing electrodes over them. The company says the liquid helps improve electron flow through the plant by coating the stems and penetrating leaf stoma to provide extensive surface area for the electro-weeding process.

The company and its investors plan to use the funding to open up new international markets, expand the technology to new crops and develop additional agronomic treatment patterns for the Crop.Zone system. The system is already in use in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. 

Crop.Zone is also one of the startups participating in John Deere’s year-long 2022 Startup Collaborator program, which enhances Deere’s relationship with startups that could add value for farmers who use Deere’s equipment. 

Electroherb by Zasso

Electroherb, developed by Swiss agtech company Zasso, is one of the electric weeding technologies on the market today for specialty crops and other…