Leading global supplier Bosch and BASF have come together to form a 50-50 joint venture to globally market and sell smart farming technologies from a single source. The joint venture has received approval by all relevant merger control authorities, and has been registered as Bosch BASF Smart Farming (BBSF).
BBSF has since set up its headquarters in Cologne, Germany and appointed Silvia Cifre Wibrow from BASF and Florian Gwosdz from Bosch as Managing Directors to jointly lead the company.
The company will distribute its smart spraying solution, which Bosch and BASF are developing and testing, to initial markets in North America, South America and Europe by the end of this year.
The smart spraying solution offers real-time, automated pre-emergence (green-on-brown) and post-emergence (green-on-green) weed identification and management day and night, claimed the company.
The release further stated that the company’s Intelligent Planting Solution (IPS) is already commercially available in Brazil and Argentina, and will use the advanced digital agronomic intelligence of BASF’s xarvio crop optimisation platform to enhance zone-based seeding recommendations in the near future in Brazil.
Bringing expertise together
Smart spraying can be activated in milliseconds by combining Bosch’s camera sensor technology and software with xarvio’s agronomic intelligence, to precisely detect weeds in crop rows and to spot apply herbicide only where needed.
Its unique configuration supports a more efficient use of herbicide, with trials showing herbicide volume savings of 70% are achievable. Further savings are also possible, said the company, with variability dependent on the prevailing field conditions and weed pressure of individual fields.
“Our smart spraying solution continues to return consistent, positive test results, which clearly shows the combination of our hardware, software and advanced agronomic logic delivers,” said Gwosdz.
Wibrow, on the other hand, said BBSF is bringing a new digital solution to market and new approach to weed management – a volume-optimisation model that increases farm profitability through a more precise and efficient use of herbicide.