Czech startup Skymaps recently announced the launch of Zoneye, an AI model that learns to identify local weed populations. Trained to recognize 37 common weed species, Zoneye pinpoints their exact location in the field using drone images. Integrated into the company’s CultiWise prescription-map platform, Skymaps claims that their system enables growers to cut input costs by up to 50 percent while boosting yields by up to 20 percent.
Trained on millions of drone-captured images of crops and weeds, Zoneye can identify, within minutes, all common weeds including thistle, mayweed and ragweed among major crops including corn, winter wheat, soybean, sugar beet, sunflower, rapeseed, potatoes, and onions. Farmers upload their own drone images to the cloud-based software, which delivers results in minutes.
“Farmers have repeatedly stressed the importance of knowing precisely where the weeds are at the plant level so they can tackle these annoying field invaders more effectively while using fewer inputs and reducing environmental impact,” said Kornel Cziria, Chief Technology Officer at Skymaps.
How Zoneye works in practice
Farmers capture field images using drones and upload them to the CultiWise platform. The system processes images through a proprietary AI model trained on millions of drone photos. Within minutes, CultiWise generates precise prescription maps detailing the location, density, and species of weeds, enabling the farmer to decide the exact amount of herbicide required for each area. These maps are exported directly to machinery terminals, guiding sprayers to apply herbicides only to weed-infested areas.
Using the same prescription-map technology, Zoneye can also guide seeding. By analyzing plant density and gaps in the field, the system can recommend adjusting seeding rates for areas where germination is low. This ensures uniform crop establishment, optimizes input use, and helps farmers maximize productivity across the field.
Additionally, Zoneye provides early harvest estimates, giving farmers an advantage when planning resources, managing grain storage, and scheduling sales.
“We are pleased with Zoneye’s performance. It was a huge technical challenge for the software to decipher from the drone images what was crop and what was weed and that is because we are dealing with multitude shades of green and in that jungle, the software will have to identify the shape of a particular weed.”
Zoneye will be presented at Agritechnica 2025, Nov. 9-15 in Germany at the CultiWise stand H35 in hall 9.
More information on Zoneye and CultiWise, including pricing, is available here.
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Ian McNabb is a journalist focusing on drone technology and lifestyle content at Dronelife. He is based between Boston and NH and, when not writing, enjoys hiking and Boston area sports.
