GNSS Guidance in Mulching-based Cultivation of Black Soybean ‘Tanbaguro’ and Partial Application of Herbicide to Furrows Using a Boom Sprayer

This study focused on GNSS-based rowing and mulching for effective herbicide application to furrows in the soybean production with black film mulch. An operator, experienced in GNSS-guided operations, mulch rows with equal width of furrow. Meanwhile, the operator who is inexperienced at GNSS-guided system, meandered the mulched rows so that equal furrows between mulched rows were not realized. In mulch rows with equal width of furrow, the boom sprayer could work with almost no steering operation. On the other hand, in the meandering mulch rows, frequent steering was necessary to drive the boom sprayer. It was observed that the spray height of the sprayer was not constant when the handle was frequently operated in the meandering mulch rows. Straight rows formed by GNSS-based operation equalized the width of furrow, allowing for efficient herbicide application to furrows from the sprayer, reducing herbicide application amount by 45%.