High yields no longer guarantee profitability for Ukrainian vegetable growers. In 2025, the expansion of areas planted with onions, carrots, cabbage, beetroot and potatoes resulted in oversupply in several product categories and periods when farmgate prices failed to cover production costs. Amid such market volatility, farms are being forced to look for additional sources of profitability not only in sales, storage and logistics, but also in every field operation, EastFruit notes.
Crop protection remains one of the most expensive components of vegetable production. Growers pay not only for the product itself, but also for water, fuel, machinery operation, tank refilling, manual weeding and potential losses caused by crop stress. Solutions that not only ensure effective treatment but also reduce unnecessary application and target products precisely where they are actually needed are therefore becoming increasingly important.
In this context, spot spraying is moving from the category of innovative technology to that of a practical cost-management tool. During a demonstration of the Ecorobotix ARA ultra-high-precision sprayer on carrots, onions and cabbage in Ukraine, the use of crop protection products was reduced by 60–85%, depending on the crop. The spray volume was also reduced from 200 to 40 litres per hectare.
However, the key question for the market is not simply the headline percentage saving, but whether spot spraying translates into a tangible reduction in production costs per hectare and a sustainable competitive advantage for growers operating under volatile market conditions.
The costly model: treating an entire field when only part of it has a problem
“With conventional broadcast application, the spray solution is applied across the entire field: to weeds, crop plants, soil and inter-row areas. The grower pays for the product, water, fuel, machinery and labour regardless of what proportion of the field actually required treatment. This model remained economically acceptable for a long time because resources and labour were relatively affordable. Today, however, the situation is changing,” says Kateryna Zvierieva, Development Director at the Ukrainian Horticultural Association.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations identifies labour shortages, high production costs and low farmgate prices among the main constraints facing Ukrainian agricultural production. The labour issue is particularly acute in the fruit and vegetable sector, where a significant proportion of operations remain highly labour-intensive.
Taras Bashtannyk, President of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association, also identifies the shortage of both skilled and unskilled workers as one of the key challenges of the 2026 season. The sector is effectively facing a choice between large-scale mechanisation and the search for new alternatives. Against this backdrop, spot spraying is becoming one of the ways to reduce variable costs and decrease farms’ dependence on manual operations.
Plant by plant, rather than across the entire field
One such solution is the ARA 620 ultra-high-precision sprayer developed by the Swiss company Ecorobotix. In Ukraine, the technology is represented by FRENDT – Precision Farming Centre, a member of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association that provides integrated precision-farming solutions to agricultural businesses across the country.
The system operates differently from conventional automatic section control. Six camera modules scan the field surface in real time. Artificial intelligence algorithms distinguish between soil, crop plants and weeds, after which the system decides where the product should be applied.
A total of 156 nozzles, positioned at four-centimetre intervals, enable the machine to treat an area of approximately 6 × 6 centimetres. This means that the product does not have to be applied uniformly across the entire field. Instead, it can be directed precisely where it is required: directly onto a weed, onto a crop plant or according to an ‘everything except the crop’ strategy.
The machine has a working width of 6.2 metres, a rated operating speed of up to 7.2 kilometres per hour and a capacity of up to four hectares per hour. The sprayer can operate both during the day and at night and can generate as-applied maps using RTK GPS. For growers, this means not only greater application accuracy, but also effective control over product use, reduced unproductive expenditure and more careful treatment of crops, soil and the environment.
The key value of the ARA 620 therefore lies not simply in the number of cameras or nozzles, but in how much product the system enables growers to avoid spraying onto the field without compromising crop-protection efficiency. In some farming operations, reductions in product use can reach as much as 96%. This transforms spot spraying from a technological innovation into a direct cost-saving tool for agribusiness.
Ukrainian field demonstration: 60–85% savings on crop protection products
During an ARA Ecorobotix demonstration at a large vegetable farm in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, the machine was tested on carrots, onions and cabbage. When two hectares of carrots were treated with herbicide, product savings compared with conventional broadcast application amounted to approximately 60%.
On onions and cabbage, the reported savings reached 75–85%, even though the weeds were already at relatively advanced stages of development. At the same time, the spray volume was reduced from the farm’s conventional rate of 200 litres per hectare to 40 litres per hectare. Actual field capacity was approximately three hectares per hour.
The farm’s chief agronomist estimated the overall reduction in herbicide expenditure at around 70%. According to his observations, spot spraying also reduced the crop’s contact with the product and therefore lowered the risk of phytotoxic stress.
However, these results should not be automatically extrapolated to every farming operation. The achievable level of savings will depend on weed pressure, plant growth stage, the selected product, safety-zone settings, the number of passes and the specific crop-recognition algorithm used.
Where the real savings come from
It would be a mistake to assess ultra-high-precision spraying solely on the basis of the value of the herbicide saved. For a professional vegetable farm, the overall economic benefit may consist of several components.
The first is the direct reduction in expenditure on crop protection products.
The second is lower water consumption, fewer tank refills and less time spent preparing the spray solution.
The third is a reduction in manual weeding. Amid labour shortages, manual weeding may be not only expensive but physically impossible to complete within the required agronomic window.
The fourth is a lower risk of phytotoxicity. When the product is applied only to weeds and does not come into contact with the crop, the farm may potentially avoid some expenditure on anti-stress products and reduce losses caused by the temporary suppression of crop development.
The fifth is the ability to operate at night and extend the available treatment window during periods when daytime temperatures or wind conditions restrict spraying.
The sixth is digital traceability. As-applied maps show exactly where and in what quantity a product was used. For suppliers working with retail chains and for exporters, such information is gradually becoming almost as important as the treatment itself.
Which crops offer the greatest potential?
The most obvious application segment for ultra-high-precision spraying is professional open-field vegetable production. This includes carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and other crops for which production costs per hectare are high and crop-protection mistakes have a direct impact on marketable quality and yield.
The technology may also be of interest to growers managing large areas of uniform crops, carrying out several herbicide treatments during the season and facing significant labour costs. By design, the ARA is primarily intended for open-field vegetable and row crops.
The key asset is not the machine, but the algorithm
When evaluating conventional agricultural machinery, growers primarily assess the metal structure, working width, power and output. In the case of the ARA AI-powered sprayer, however, the key asset is the software.
The system must correctly recognise a specific crop, the relevant weeds and their respective stages of development. Before investing in the technology, it is therefore not enough simply to confirm that the sprayer is physically compatible with the tractor and the farm’s row spacing.
Implementation of the ARA 620 does not begin with equipment delivery, but with a technological assessment of the specific farm’s requirements. Before the system is launched, it is important to identify the crop, plant development stage, planned application mode, field characteristics and expected result. This approach makes it possible to select the optimal operating algorithm and maximise the potential of spot spraying.
Ecorobotix already has more than 30 algorithms for vegetable crops, arable crops, meadows and lawns, and their range and functionality are continuously expanding. This means that the technology is not a static piece of equipment, but a solution that evolves alongside the needs of agricultural production.
Consultation before investment is therefore an important part of the process. It helps growers understand how the system will operate under their specific conditions and what economic value it may generate.
Comprehensive support is particularly important for sophisticated digital machinery, from initial configuration and staff training to servicing and rapid technical response during the season. At the same time, the ARA 620 is designed to be straightforward to operate. The system is easily controlled using a tablet, while its interface is intuitive even for operators working with such technologies for the first time.
With the ARA 620, a grower receives not merely a sprayer, but a technological solution that must be correctly integrated into the farm’s existing workflows. This is why cooperation with FRENDT provides additional assurance: professional implementation and support help minimise the risk of operational problems during the season.
This approach enables farms to maintain the pace of field operations, make efficient use of short treatment windows and transform spot spraying into a reliable instrument for cost reduction and productivity improvement.
FRENDT has operated in Ukraine’s precision-agriculture market since 2013 and brings together more than 100 engineers, agronomists, service specialists and technical professionals. The company works as a technology integrator: it audits machinery and farm requirements, installs equipment, commissions systems, trains staff and provides both warranty and post-warranty support.
The future of precision spraying in Ukraine will be determined by specific figures: how much money the technology can save a grower on every hectare. Farmers can test the solution in their own fields and obtain an individual calculation by contacting FRENDT at +38 (067) 433-26-25.
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