Food and agriculture

Precision farming: robots, edited crops and indoor farms

What does each precision farming tool change on the farm, and how much field or commercial evidence and uptake sits behind it?

This comparison sets five farming technologies against four shared dimensions: what each changes, the strongest field or commercial figure, uptake today and the main limitation. Most cells rest on one study, one trial series or one market tracker, and several cells are null because no reliable public figure was found in the sources checked.

Precision farming: robots, edited crops and indoor farms. Each cell shows a value, how well it is evidenced, and its sources.
OptionWhat it changes on the farmThe practical change to weed control, fertiliser use, crop yield, soil or land and energy use, with the scale or conditions the source gives.Strongest field or commercial evidenceThe strongest field, trial or commercial figure, with its year. Units as stated: percentage change in weed biomass, yield or productivity, kg N/ha, kg/m2 per year, or minutes per row.Adoption todayScale of use or deployment, with its unit (area, number of sites, tonnes of CO2 credits or users) and the year of the figure.Main limitationThe main constraint on performance or deployment, with the measure that shows it, such as yield variance, energy per kilogram or minutes per row.
Laser and robotic weedingLasers target weeds among vegetable crops. In 2024 trials on peas, spinach and beet, laser passes cut weed biomass by at least 97% by season end.Demonstrated[1]2024 field trials in New Jersey and New York: at least 97% reduction in weed biomass by season end (Sosnoskie et al., 2025).Demonstrated[1]No reliable public figureSlow: 4 to 17 minutes to treat a 30.5 metre row, against 15 to 30 seconds for conventional herbicide application (2024 trials).Demonstrated[1]
Gene-edited cropsChanges a plant's own genes with precise tools such as CRISPR/Cas9. The sources checked report only lab and greenhouse plant changes, not crops grown on farms.Demonstrated[2]2017 greenhouse study in tomato: multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 edits raised GABA more than 19-fold in leaves of quadruple mutants (Li et al., 2017).Demonstrated[2]The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, dated 23 March 2023, sets up a route for precision-bred plants. It extends mainly to England and Wales, with some sections also extending to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The sources checked give no figure for precision-bred crops grown or sold.Demonstrated[3]The lab result is from greenhouse-grown tomato, so field performance is not shown in the sources checked. Fruit GABA rises were smaller, at 1.34- to 3.50-fold, in two chimeric lines.Demonstrated[2]
Nitrogen-fixing cerealsMicrobial products applied to maize may supply part of the crop's nitrogen in place of synthetic fertiliser. The sources checked show no cereal that fixes nitrogen itself in a field trial.Reported, unverified[4][5]2021 on-farm comparison on 58 fields: 39 to 45 kg N/ha less fertiliser with a microbial nitrogen product gave no significant yield reduction (difference -0.0135 Mg/ha, p = 0.871). The comparisons were not replicated.Reported, unverified[4]Biological nitrogen fixation products for corn are discussed in a 2025 University of Kentucky review, which gives no sales or area figure.Reported, unverified[5]Yield responses are inconsistent: across 61 North Central site-years in 10 states, only two showed a positive yield benefit, as reported in the Kentucky update (Grove and Lee, 2025).Reported, unverified[5]
Vertical farmingCompares hydroponic greenhouse lettuce with conventional lettuce, not stacked indoor farms. The hydroponic system gave about 11 times the yield per square metre.Reported, unverified[6]2015 comparison of lettuce grown in a Yuma, Arizona greenhouse: 41 kg/m2 a year hydroponic against 3.9 kg/m2 conventional (Barbosa et al., 2015).Reported, unverified[6]No reliable public figureEnergy use: hydroponic lettuce needed about 82 times more energy per kilogram than conventional lettuce (90,000 against 1,100 kJ/kg a year) (Barbosa et al., 2015).Reported, unverified[6]
BiocharA carbon-rich solid added to soil. A 2011 meta-analysis reviewed its effect on crop productivity when applied to soils.Demonstrated[7]2011 meta-analysis: grand mean crop productivity up 10% after biochar, with individual analyses ranging from -28% to 39% (Jeffery et al., 2011).Demonstrated[7]3.04 million tonnes of biochar carbon removal credits contracted from 2022 to the first half of 2025 (CDR.fyi, 2025). Delivered totals in the same snapshot are 658 thousand and 683 thousand tonnes.Reported, unverified[8]Yield results vary with the set-up and soil, the studies were one to two years long, and biosolids were the only feedstock with a significant negative effect (Jeffery et al., 2011).Demonstrated[7]

What the table shows

  • Laser weeding trials in 2024 reported at least 97% less weed biomass by season end, and treating a 30.5 metre row took 4 to 17 minutes against 15 to 30 seconds for herbicide application.
  • A 2021 on-farm comparison of a microbial nitrogen product on 58 fields found no significant yield reduction, while a 2025 Kentucky update reports only two positive yield site-years out of 61 in the North Central region.
  • The vertical farming row compares hydroponic greenhouse lettuce with conventional lettuce, and its energy figure is 82 times higher per kilogram.
  • The 2011 biochar meta-analysis reports a grand mean productivity gain of 10%, with individual analyses from -28% to 39%, and the market figure is contracted credits rather than delivered removals.

Read with care

  • The figures come from different study types (field trial, greenhouse study, meta-analysis, on-farm comparison, university update and market tracker) and use different units, so cells should be read within a row rather than compared across rows.
  • The vertical farming and gene-edited crop rows rest on greenhouse comparisons, not on commercial stacked indoor farms or crops grown in the field.
  • The laser weeding figures come from one study of three vegetable systems in New Jersey and New York in 2024, and the 2021 nitrogen-fixing yield figure comes from a non-replicated on-farm comparison.
  • The biochar market figures are contracting volumes, not verified carbon removal, and the source gives two different delivered totals.

Sources

  1. peer reviewed paper
    Deep learning-based laser weed control compared to conventional herbicide application across three vegetable production systems
    Lynn M. Sosnoskie, Kylie Bill, Aleah Butler-Jones et al.. Pest Management Science, 24 Jun 2025. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  2. peer reviewed paper
    Multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated metabolic engineering of γ-aminobutyric acid levels in Solanum lycopersicum
    Rui Li, Ran Li, Xindi Li et al.. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2 Aug 2017. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  3. government report
    Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, c. 6
    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), 23 Mar 2023. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  4. peer reviewed paper
    Genetic remodeling of soil diazotrophs enables partial replacement of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with biological nitrogen fixation in maize
    Rafael Martinez-Feria, Maegen B. Simmonds, Bilge Ozaydin et al.. Scientific Reports, 12 Nov 2024. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  5. other
    Biological N fixation products for corn: update
    John Grove, Chad Lee. University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Grain and Forage Center of Excellence, 24 Mar 2025. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  6. peer reviewed paper
    Comparison of Land, Water, and Energy Requirements of Lettuce Grown Using Hydroponic vs. Conventional Agricultural Methods
    Guilherme Barbosa, Francisca Gadelha, Natalya Kublik et al.. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 Jun 2015. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  7. peer reviewed paper
    A quantitative review of the effects of biochar application to soils on crop productivity using meta-analysis
    S. Jeffery, F.G.A. Verheijen, M. van der Velde et al.. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Nov 2011. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  8. other
    Biochar Carbon Removal Market Snapshot 2025
    CDR.fyi, 9 Sept 2025. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.