RESEARCHERS at the University of Western Australia (UWA) are using Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), known to many as drones, to help combat early weeds in wheat crops.
The primary goal of the research was to identify the weeds and their growth stage to help find the best time to apply herbicide to control them.
By doing so, they hope to reduce herbicide inputs in farming systems, cutting costs and lowering the risk of herbicide resistance.
While at present, ground based photography systems have better spatial recognition down the track with further research RPAS could become an important part of a weed monitoring strategy.
Master of Agricultural Science student Justina Serrano conducted the research.
In specific she focused on ryegrass, Australia's most problematic broadacre weed.
Ms Serrano said annual ryegrass is a costly and problematic weed as it competes with wheat at the early stages of growth, emerges in various flushes at different times of the year and produces a high number of seeds under ideal conditions.
She also said that increased herbicide resistance was a concern.
"Annual ryegrass can decrease wheat yield by up to 50 per cent, and with more populations becoming herbicide resistant, it is extremely important to identify new technologies and techniques which can help reduce this problem and decrease whole paddock spraying," Ms Serrano said.
Images were captured using a RPAS equipped with a visible-spectrum and multispectral sensor flown at varying heights above ground level in both the glasshouse and in the field.
While there were some good results, the findings also showed the limitations of RPAS imagery to detect early-stages of annual ryegrass and practical limitations when scaling this method into broadacre cropping systems.
"Currently, ground-based systems with ultra-high spatial resolution cameras could be more effective at identifying ryegrass at the seedling and early tillering stages," Ms Serrano said.
"However, further research into RPAS would give a better integrated response to weed management in other stages of the weed and the crop."