In respect of heavy increasing areas of Maize cultivation, possibilities of mechanical weed control have to be more considered. There are well known approaches of a combination of chemical (intra-row) and mechanical (inter-row) Operations and of a intra-row weed control using small intelligent robots. In this paper an alternative approach is presented: In a quadratic plant network established by a precision seed drill, a mechanical hoeing operation is conducted in two perpendicular directions (two-dimensional). Developing a precision drill for an exactly synchronized seed positioning also in adjoining tracks is a precondition for this system. Before starting such a project it was the aim of this investigation to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of this two-dimensional hoeing operation (cross hoeing). Therefore a hand sowed Maize crop was grown with an inter-plant distance of 33 cm in both directions of operation. This results in a crop density of 9 plants/m2. By the hoeing operation almost all weeds excepting some standing directly next to a Maize seedling could be removed. At this hoeing operation, 15.5 % of the Maize crop was damaged irreversibly, but a considerable part of this damage was caused by imprecise hand sowing and too big tractor tires compared to the inter-plant distance. From an economical point of view substituting chemical by this kind of mechanical weed control is largely self-financing but more Iabor intensive. According to the first observations from the conducted experiment, especially in organic farming an increase in crop yield is expected again by using the cross hoeing operation for Maize and other row crops.      «

In respect of heavy increasing areas of Maize cultivation, possibilities of mechanical weed control have to be more considered. There are well known approaches of a combination of chemical (intra-row) and mechanical (inter-row) Operations and of a intra-row weed control using small intelligent robots. In this paper an alternative approach is presented: In a quadratic plant network established by a precision seed drill, a mechanical hoeing operation is conducted in two perpendicular directions (t...     »