Докторант из Уэльса разрабатывает электрические машины для борьбы с сорняками в австралийском сельском хозяйстве

Young gun Miranda Slaven in front of an electric weed control machine. Picture supplied. The University of Western Australia (UWA) PhD student, Miranda Slaven, wants to make a difference in her field that will ultimately contribute to better food security and more sustainable farming systems. Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news across the nation or signup to continue reading 40% OFF All articles from our website & app The digital version of This Week's Paper Our entire network Her passion for agriculture is driven by a love of the environment and the ability to work with new technologies and innovations that may not be as accessible in other sectors. Ms Slaven grew up in Perth, but spent a lot of her childhood travelling down to a property owned by her family in the Great Southern. "This gave me a strong connection to the natural environment and an appreciation for the landscape and changing seasons," Ms Slaven said. "That was a big part of what drew me towards agriculture. "I have always been interested in how we can look after the land and natural resources that agricultural production relies on." With this background, it would come as no surprise that Ms Slaven completed an undergraduate degree in Agriculture and Science at UWA, followed by a Masters of Agricultural Science specialising in soil science and plant nutrition. Her Master's thesis focused on optimising soil carbon sequestration from crop residue incorporation by adding nutrient fertilisers to aid the process. After leaving UWA four years ago, Ms Slaven moved to Northam and started to work with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). There, she became involved in Australia's first major research project investigating electric weed control in agricultural systems. Ms Slaven presenting her research findings at one of many field days. Picture supplied. Ms Slaven was the lead researcher alongside project lead Catherine Borger and worked in collaboration with Case New Holland, with support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Wine Australia and the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC). "When I started, electric weed control was completely new to me and there was very little local research to draw on," she said. "We essentially had the machinery and had to work out what questions needed answering to determine whether it could have a place in Australian farming systems. "The first time I saw it operate was pretty memorable." Ms Slaven said electric weed control damages plant cells, so you can actually see them begin to wilt immediately after treatment. "I went into it not really knowing what to expect, but you could physically see that it worked straight away," she said. "The project took me throughout the Western Australian Wheatbelt conducting paddock trials and gave me opportunities to present the research at field days, grower events, conferences and industry forums. "One of my favourite parts was seeing people's reactions to the research. "There's usually some surprise when you tell someone you're electrifying weeds - and even more now that I've expanded into some of the other technologies in my PhD. "It's great seeing that initial surprise or skepticism turn into interest when people see the results and start thinking about how the technology could fit into their own farming system." Ms Slaven presenting her weed findings at a conference. Picture supplied. Leading on from her DPIRD project, Ms Slaven took some leave to do a PhD concentrating on the applicability and efficacy of novel non-chemical weed control techniques for inter-row use in Australian broadacre systems. She said this mainly targeted the most problematic and costly weeds of annual ryegrass, wild radish, brome grass and fleabane. "We are aiming to find alternative techniques to chemicals to combat these weeds as part of an integrated weed management (IWM) approach," she said. "We know we are probably not going to find a silver bullet, but we hope we can identify some non-chemical tools to work with herbicide systems to achieve effective weed control and reduce herbicide resistance issues." Ms Slaven's PhD supervisors are Professor Ken Flower (UWA), Prof Michael Walsh (Charles Sturt University), Associate Prof Andrew Guzzomi (UWA) and Dr Borger (DPIRD). The PhD is supported by UWA, GRDC, DPIRD and the Edward and Frank Moss HDR Scholarship in Agriculture. Ms Slaven said the main tactics she was investigating were electric weed control, targeted tillage, abrasive grit and water jets. She said the aim was not to replace herbicides with these novel techniques. "Herbicides remain incredibly valuable tools, but increasing herbicide resistance means we need a more diverse weed-management toolbox," she said. "I'm interested in where these technologies could complement existing herbicide and other weed control measures as part of an IWM package. "A big part of the research is looking beyond whether a technology can simply kill a weed. "It also needs to be practical at Australian broadacre scale, safe for the crop and capable of fitting into existing broadacre farming systems." Ms Slaven said some of these methods were being successfully used overseas for non-chemical weed control, but their application in Australian broadacre grain cropping remained under-explored. "In my research, I aspire to create practical and evidence-based information to guide technological development and Australian commercial readiness," she said. "This will support future grower adoption of these technologies across diverse broadscale cropping systems without compromising profitability." Ms Slaven said electric weed control used European technology to put a high voltage current through weeds to kill them. She said the machinery was currently scaling-up, with multiple companies developing it for various systems. However, engineering improvements were needed to take it to broadacre scale. Targeted tillage used AI and camera weed detection on tillage equipment, and involved only engaging the tyne when a weed was identified with the machinery she is using in her PhD, developed at UWA's Centre for Engineering Innovation: Agriculture & Ecological Restoration (CEI:AgER). At this stage, the technology is used for brown-on-green and steps were being taken to also use it for green-on-green. Ms Slaven said the grit system and water jets were in a prototype phase. "These are early in development and involve killing weeds with an abrasive grit or high pressure water jet," she said. "I am doing a proof of concept for these methods of weed control - it is early days." Ms Slaven said the non-herbicide tactics were showing promising effectiveness against weeds overseas. Through her PhD, she will assess the efficacy of these technologies in Australian conditions and various cropping systems and measure their effectiveness against key weed species, such as annual ryegrass and wild radish. Part of the research will be to examine the potential off-target effects of these technologies on crops and the seed bank. "Ensuring that non-chemical methods do not negatively impact crop productivity is crucial for maintaining the economic viability of broad-scale grain farming," she said. Ms Slaven will analyse the economic implications and operational feasibility of the systems to provide growers with practical insights into the cost-effectiveness and operational feasibility of these technologies. This should help with informed decision-making for widespread adoption. "These technologies are evolving quickly and it is very exciting to work with them," Ms Slaven said. As a visiting scholar, she recently went to Cornell University's AgriTech campus in Geneva, New York, working with Associate Professor Lynn Sosnoskie and her weed science research lab. "This was an opportunity to work in very different cropping systems, including vegetables, corn and soybeans, and compare US weed management with Australian broadacre agriculture," she said. "A particular highlight was seeing a laser weeder identify and target individual weeds in the field for the first time. "It's pretty incredible to watch and gives you an idea of where agricultural technology could be heading." "After seeing what's being done in other parts of the world, the question that interests me most now is not just "can we kill weeds this way?", but "how do we turn these emerging technologies into something that could actually be useful and accessible to Australian growers?" Ms Slaven said she hoped to continue working in the agricultural industry in the long-term. "I feel really passionate about agriculture and helping people understand where there food comes from and the effort and technologies that go into producing it," she said. "Ultimately, I'd like my research to help give growers more options for managing weeds and identify which of these emerging technologies genuinely have a future in Australian agriculture." As it happens Breaking news alert Be the first to know when news breaks. Daily Your daily update The day's top stories curated by our news team. Twice a week Dairy News Industry news from Australia's dairy sector. 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