Practical Feasibility of Using ISM Band Microwave Heating Treatment for Sisymbrium Irio Weeds

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Weed control is one of the most important problems of agriculture industry due to the reduction of productivity of the fields. Traditional, chemical, and biological weed management alternatives have their own drawbacks such as environmental issues. This opens the doors for new technologies such as microwave treatment of weeds which directly target the weeds using electromagnetic heating. Due to their sensitivity, by increasing weed seeds temperature to about 60 degrees, they will lose their germination potential. The effects of microwave on a famous type of weed named Sisymbrium Irio have been investigated. Ready to germinate, buried weed seeds are exposed to microwave power in different exposure times. The results of our experiments and simulation show that the average electric field in the depth of 1cm in soil is around 5700 V/m and the amount of dissipated energy that is necessary for destroying Sisymbrium Irio seeds germination is around 200 J/cm3.

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