ARA vs Selective Spraying System (SSP)
Two spraying machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Tractor-drawn smart sprayer that treats each plant individually with centimetre precision.
Best for: Growers cutting herbicide/pesticide spend hard while keeping an existing tractor fleet.Israeli-developed retrofit precision-spray kit that adds real-time selective spraying to a customer's existing self-propelled sprayer — boom-mounted RGB cameras (1.5 m spacing) feed AI that classifies weeds to species level and fires an added line of individually pulsed nozzles, while a second broadcast line still applies residual herbicide. Commercially launched in Israel (2021) and the US Midwest (2022), expanded to cotton in 2025; not confirmed as sold in the EU.
Best for: Established US/Israel row-crop growers (corn, soybean, cotton) running large, modern self-propelled sprayers (2014-model-year or newer) who want to cut non-residual herbicide spend without buying a dedicated robot.| ARA Verified 2026-07-16 | Selective Spraying System (SSP) Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | AI-assisted | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Switzerland | Israel |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | ~18 wk | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Tractor PTO + hydraulics; onboard AI compute | Retrofit add-on with no engine of its own — hosted on the customer's existing sprayer, typically a diesel self-propelled unit |
| Required tractor power | 80 hp minimum | Not required as a towed implement; retrofits onto self-propelled sprayers (reported hosts include Hagie, John Deere, Case IH and New Holland, 2014-model-year or newer) |
| Dimensions | 6.00 m working width folded to 3.0 m transport | Custom aluminum dual-wet boom; one reported installation used a 120 ft (36.6 m) boom on a Hagie STS12 — width follows the host sprayer |
| Weight | 1,900 kg | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | 30 ha | Not disclosed by the vendor; independent trade reporting put payback under 2 years mainly for farms above roughly 3,000 acres |
| Productivity | Up to 4 ha/hour | Not disclosed as a throughput figure; each captured image is analyzed once in real time as the sprayer passes |
| Max speed | 7 km/h working | Up to 25 km/h (vendor); around 24 km/h (15 mph) demonstrated in independent field reporting |
| Sensors | High-res cameras · per-plant recognition · section control | RGB cameras mounted at 1.5 m intervals along the boom (up to 50 fps reported in the field), sub-millimeter image resolution, species-level AI weed classification, day/night operation |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | €165,000 | Not disclosed |
| Native price | €165,000 | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Buy · lease · contractor revenue-share options | Retrofit purchase onto the grower's existing sprayer; vendor states no subscription fee for the AI/software. Independent trade press (Sprayers101, 2023) reported an installed cost of roughly $239,000 for one 120 ft dual-boom configuration — a single reported case, not an official price list, and not reconfirmed directly by Greeneye. |
| Ongoing cost | €3,200/yr software + agronomic subscription | No disclosed software/subscription fee (vendor states "no subscription fees"); ongoing costs would include nozzle, camera and dual-tank wear parts — not itemized by the vendor. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Herbicide applied (dock control, grassland) −90%+ · independent | Non-residual herbicide use vs. broadcast spraying (2022 University of Nebraska-Lincoln corn trial) -87% to -94% · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | CE marked (2022) | Not disclosed — no CE marking or EU distribution found; commercially sold only in the US and Israel as of 2026 |
| Machinery Regulation | Compliant — Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 | Not applicable in current markets; would need to meet Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 provisions for automated spraying equipment if placed on the EU market |
| CAP subsidy | Eligible under CAP; SW & FR precision-spraying subsidies | Not currently sold in the EU; if introduced, spot-spraying would support Sustainable Use Directive / CAP eco-scheme herbicide-reduction targets |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.