14. October 2020

Follow-Up Selective Weed Management

Bodenschmiede-finalist from Switzerland seeks sponsors

How have the finalists of the Bodenschmiede been doing since the end of the ideas competition? Farm & Food spoke with Marco Landis, developer of a high-pressure water jet for selective weed management. You can check out his live pitch from summer 2020 here (German).

By Sarah Liebigt

Farm & Food: Please introduce yourself and your idea for weed management.

Marco Landis: My name is Marco Landis I participated in the project competition Bodenschmiede with my master thesis, which I wrote at the University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil. It was about selective weed control in row cultivation using a high-pressure water jet. The work was about recognizing the weeds that are competing with the crops and removing them in a row using a high-pressure water jet. 

What has happened since summer 2020? What was the next step in the project? 

I completed my master’s thesis and am now working as a consultant for precision agriculture. The project has therefore no longer been actively pursued. We would like to develop it further, so we are looking for an industrial partner to help us convert it from a functional model to a series product. 

What do you hope for the project, what could the coming year look like?  

The idea is that we find a partner who will continue and intensify the project together with us. I think the topic will continue to have a high priority. If you want to run a purely ecological production, which means, among other things, reducing pesticides, then you must think ahead here. 

Of course it would be great if we could find an industrial partner who has the know-how to move from project status to production. 

How did the Bodenschmiede live pitch go for you?

It was a very exciting experience. It was also Corona’s fault that you had to do it online. I think it would have been even more exciting to do it live and meet up.