Direct seeding and robots are making progress in sugar beet cultivation

Direct seeding and robotic weeding are gaining prominence in the technical debate on professional sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) production. These topics are part of the program at SugarBeet Expo 2026, an international trade fair organized by the DLG, the German Agricultural Society. The event will take place on September 9th and 10th, 2026, in Rittergut Gestorf, near Hanover, Germany. The exhibition accompanies PotatoEurope and includes demonstrations of machinery in the field.

The fair focuses on practical solutions, machinery, digitalization, and sustainability. The technical program addresses the challenges and opportunities of no-till farming. It also covers robotics, technological trends, and research applied to the crop. Producers will be able to observe modern technologies in real field conditions.

Direct seeding is noteworthy for its reduced soil disturbance. The system preserves soil capillaries and earthworm burrows. This improves water infiltration and movement. It also increases the soil's carrying capacity and reduces the risk of erosion. This advantage is particularly important in vulnerable areas.

Land cover

The system also maintains ground cover for almost the entire year. It uses cover crops, crop residues, and organic material on the surface. This protection reduces soil drying, limits losses due to evaporation, and promotes biological activity. Organic matter accumulates in the surface layer and reaches deeper layers through the action of soil organisms.

Permanent cover helps the soil retain moisture for longer during dry periods. This condition creates an important foundation for the productive stability of sugar beet. Direct seeding also reduces weed pressure in many systems, as less soil disturbance encourages fewer seeds to germinate.

Integration with precision technologies expands the system's potential. Localized spraying allows for more efficient application of pesticides with less resource use. The document also indicates the possibility of reducing fungicide and insecticide applications, with more resilient plant stands and well-planned crop rotations.

Direct seeding

Adopting direct seeding requires attention. The soil warms up more slowly in the European spring. This can delay the initial development of the crop. Slugs and rodents may also increase in some situations, as their habitats are less disturbed. Plant emergence may be less uniform in certain cases. Therefore, higher seeding rates may become necessary.

Information from DLG indicates productivity reductions of approximately four to eight percent in sugar beet cultivation. The success of the system depends on a high level of management, experience, and specialized equipment. Precise seed placement, crop management, and phytosanitary protection account for some of the technical requirements. Even so, the source considers the system economically attractive with consistent implementation.

Robotics and change

Robotics is emerging as another driver of change in sugar beet cultivation. The document on SugarBeet Expo 2026 points to challenges related to economic viability, diseases and pests, such as the SBR/Stolbur complex and cercosporiosis, as well as weed control. The reduction in the number of approved plant protection products, the increase in labor costs, and the lower availability of workers are putting pressure on producers, especially in organic production.

The Kirschgartshausen experimental farm, belonging to Südzucker Landwirtschaft, north of Mannheim, is testing alternative weed control methods. The trials include tractor-mounted inter-row weeding systems, conventional mechanical weeding with strip spraying, localized spraying, electric control, and autonomous robots. Among the systems being evaluated are Farmdroid from Denmark, Farming Revolution from Germany, and Naïo Technologies from France.

Two autonomous systems have undergone intensive testing in recent years. The Farmdroid FD20 uses GPS and acts as a specialized system for sowing and weeding sugar beets. It needs to sow the area to position the seeds with high precision. The Farming GT, from Farming Revolution, uses cameras and artificial intelligence to distinguish weeds from the crop. It operates on more than one hundred crops and allows sowing with conventional equipment.

Both systems are able to weed within the row and work close to the cultivated plant, with minimal damage. There is a combination of precision weeding robots with localized application technology. In this strategy, pesticides or liquid nutrients receive targeted application. Compared to applications across the entire area, input volumes can be reduced by more than ninety percent.

The trials in Kirschgartshausen required a larger experimental design than conventional plots. The plots measured fifty meters in length and twelve rows in width. The arrangement followed a randomized block design, with four replications. Each plot totaled two hundred and seventy square meters. The evaluations measured weed infestation and plant density after each treatment.

Südzucker Landwirtschaft has been accumulating results from field robot trials since 2020. In the last three years evaluated, the robots significantly reduced weeds under varying pressures. Control effectiveness ranged from ninety percent to almost ninety-eight percent. In two of the three years, the autonomous systems achieved results comparable to three standard post-emergence herbicide applications. In 2025, under high weed pressure, the robots did not eliminate all plants from the plots.

The plant loss results also favored the robots. They operated more carefully than conventional mechanical cultivation with hoes and harrows, a method associated with significant damage to sugar beet plants. In Farmdroid, losses did not differ significantly from the untreated control in any of the three years. Farming GT performed similarly, but caused greater losses under high weed pressure in 2025. Even so, the density of over ninety thousand plants per hectare achieved with Farming GT should not harm productivity, according to the document.

Tests indicate potential for reducing manual weeding hours in organic production. Practical adoption, however, requires analysis on a property-by-property basis. Operational capacity is limited by working width and speed. The systems work best in large, flat areas with few maneuvers. Use on side slopes, stony areas, or surfaces with mulch cover is not recommended in the technical material.