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On some farms, autonomous machines now roll between crop rows and zap individual weeds with lasers instead of spraying chemicals.
Laser-weeding robots use cameras and AI to identify individual weeds among crop rows, then fire a precise laser burst to kill just that plant, letting the crop nearby go untouched. Because they target single weeds instead of spraying an entire field, farms need far less chemical herbicide to keep rows clean.
Making crops glow at night and removing the need for sunlight are unrelated to weed control entirely; lasers used this way generate heat to damage weed tissue, they don't emit light for growth or make plants luminous.
Cutting herbicide use has ripple effects beyond cost: less chemical runoff means cleaner nearby waterways, and fields treated this way can also reduce the risk of weeds evolving herbicide resistance, a growing problem in conventional farming.
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