For decades, growing strawberries has meant spraying them.

 

Strawberries are among the most pesticide-intensive crops in America, requiring repeated treatments to protect them from mold, insects, and disease throughout the growing season.

Now, one California company believes there may be a different way.

Instead of spraying chemicals, its robots use light.

TRIC Robotics has developed autonomous machines that travel through strawberry fields after dark, using UV-C light to target fungi, bacteria, and other organisms that damage crops.

The idea is remarkably simple.

Many of the diseases that affect strawberries are highly sensitive to UV-C light. By exposing plants to carefully controlled doses at night, farmers can reduce disease pressure while relying less on chemical pesticides.

The tractor-sized robots can cover up to 100 acres and are designed to treat crops without harming the plants. Operating after sunset also allows them to work without interrupting normal farming activities.

The company has taken an unusual approach to bringing the technology to farms.

Rather than selling the robots, TRIC Robotics provides them as a service. The machines are sent directly to growers, performing crop protection much like traditional pest-control contractors, allowing farmers to adopt the technology without changing the way they already manage their fields.

Interestingly, the company did not originally set out to reinvent agriculture.

Its technology was first developed for an entirely different purpose before researchers realized it could help protect one of America’s most pesticide-treated crops.