Electric weed control delivered a 96% reduction in weed density in Cornell University trials in young US orchards, prompting Dutch importer Intrak to revisit the 3-metre Zasso XP300 after earlier disappointing results against yellow nutsedge in the Netherlands.

The Cornell team recorded the drop from 274 to 9 weeds per square metre across plots carrying both annual and perennial species. Cornell posted the figure on LinkedIn. The result clears the bar Intrak struggled to clear in earlier Dutch work, where single-pass control numbers came in weak.

"That makes the technology interesting for us again," says Jeroen van de Ven of Intrak. Van de Ven says the Cornell number aligns with what Dutch growers reported at the time: treated fields carried fewer regrowth patches even when headline control figures looked poor.

Why did the earlier Dutch trials disappoint?

The Zasso XP300 ran on Dutch yellow nutsedge several years ago with limited effect. Above-ground foliage died back cleanly, but underground tubers pushed up fresh shoots within weeks. Intrak initially read the bounce-back as a sign the current was stimulating the weed rather than killing it.

"Initially, we thought the Zasso was stimulating the growth of yellow nutsedge," Van de Ven says.

Intrak ran those trials with contractor Thijssen. Jeroen van de Ven and Christel Thijssen exchanged treatment findings, walked fields together and rebuilt the approach around yellow nutsedge phenology rather than single-pass control.

What did Oregon State find?

Oregon State University ran its own programme in organic blueberry fields, where herbicide options sit narrow. At 1 km/h working speed, control hit 89% at first assessment. By day 80, efficacy had slipped below the level a grower would accept in a single-pass programme.

The Oregon State team concluded that perennial weeds need repeated treatments, not single shots. The Cornell and Oregon State datasets point in the same direction: high-voltage current knocks back top growth, but rhizome and tuber reserves drive regrowth.

When should growers treat?

Timing ties to the weed's life cycle, not the calendar. For yellow nutsedge, Intrak now targets the window before tuber formation.

"You need to know when the plant forms new tubers and treat before that point," Van de Ven says.

Intrak's current protocol for yellow nutsedge:

• 3 to 5 treatments per season
• May to October window
• Aim each pass before new tuber set
• Follow-up passes to exhaust underground reserves

The protocol draws on field experience Intrak gained with Thijssen, the Cornell orchard data and the Oregon State timing studies.

What is the production and capacity situation?

The XP300 carried a 3-metre boom and ran at about 1.5 km/h in the earlier Dutch work. That combination puts daily output in the low single-digit hectares per machine and shapes the contractor business case and the per-hectare cost for any comeback run.

Zasso has paused XP300 production. No new units are leaving the line.

"If interest returns, it will be worth looking at that again," Van de Ven says. Intrak will press the manufacturer on a restart if demand firms up from growers and contractors.

Watch for: next-stage Intrak-Thijssen field data on yellow nutsedge tuber timing, and any Zasso signal on resuming XP300 production if Dutch and US order books open in the coming year.