ENERGY REQUIREMENTS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ELECTRICAL WEED CONTROL.

A newly developed alternative for control of weeds taller than the crop is the Electrical Discharge System (EDS) weeder marketed by Lasco, Inc. The EDS unit kills weeds electrically on contact with charged probes by forcing the electrolytic solution within the plants' vascular system to conduct electrical current. The electricity in the plant, in effect, boils the plant cell solution and ruptures cell walls. To assist farm managers in their decisions regarding these selective placement methods of weed control, research was conducted to determine energy requirements of the EDS weeder, and economically compare the EDS weeder, the herbicide roller, and the recirculating sprayer. The research was based on ten field experiments. The paper discusses materials, methods and results of the study.