Investigation of the effectiveness of AC/DC electric current as a weed control method using NDVI technique

Abstract

Due to the negative environmental effects of herbicides, restrictions are imposed in many developed countries and the transition to alternative methods is encouraged. Upon these restrictions and prohibitions, non-chemical weed control methods have been started to be developed. One of these alternative weed control methods is the electric current method. Background: Using multiple electrodes, the mortality rates were measured by exposing the plants germinated in laboratory conditions to AC and DC currents for different periods. Objective: In this study, the effects of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) on the mortality rates of plants were investigated. Methods: By comparing the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) values measured before and 1 week after the plants were exposed to electrical current, the effect of AC/DC on the mortality rate was determined. Results: While mortality was between 11% and 17% for AC, mortality occurred at a rate of 31% in plants that had 300 volts DC applied for 350 s. Conclusions: The degrees (r) of these relationships were 79.7% and 95.7%, respectively. According to these results, mortality rates increased as the voltage increased.