🎥 AgriPass on ag robotics 2.0: ‘We’re replicating the human weeding process but making it affordable at scale’

Robotic weeders are evolving quickly. Some zap weeds with lasers, hot oil or electricity, others target them with microscopic sprays. Israeli startup AgriPass, in contrast, pulls weeds out of the ground with what it claims is the precision of a human hand. While some mechanical weeders lack nuance, AgriPass claims to replicate both the dexterity and judgment of skilled farm laborers, combining AI-driven decision-making with independently operating robotic arms to selectively remove weeds while leaving crops—and surrounding soil structure—intact. AgFunderNews (AFN) caught up with CEO Liron Cohen Yanay (LCY) at World Agri-Tech in San Francisco to discuss how the technology works, where it fits in the broader robotics landscape, and what it takes to get farmers to adopt it.   AFN: What problem are you solving for growers? LCY: What we do is human weeding at the farm scale, because there’s a labor shortage and current [chemical] solutions have reached their limit. There is resistance to herbicides, erosion from tillage over time, and people don’t want to come and work in the fields anymore. We are replicating the human weeding process and making it affordable at scale. AI handles contextual analysis and decision-making to identify which weeds to target and how, in the way an experienced farmer would in real time. Individual robotic actuators then execute these actions in the field. We’re replicating what humans do and making it easy and affordable to adapt at scale. AFN: How does AgriPass compare to other mechanical weeders? LCY: I think that the…

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