Evaluation of Diode Laser Treatments to Manage Weeds in Row Crops
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Lack of significance in several of the experiments indicates a need for a larger experiment with more data points for each treatment.
Author Response
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Here is point-by-point response to your comments
Comment: Lack of significance in several of the experiments indicates a need for a larger experiment with more data points for each treatment.
Response: Thank you for this observation, we agree that lack of significance (especially in weed species) might be due to the smaller dataset. It will be interesting to explore more weed species as well as the laser effect on crops in the future of this project.
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper has addressed using a diode laser as a weeding technique for weeding weeds intra-row crops. They found that laser power, stem diameter, treatment duration, and distance between weed and laser are significant factors in killing weeds. In the conclusion section, the authors mentioned their future perspective that they will investigate this technique in field trials.
Below are my comments that may help the authors further improve the paper:
1. In line 56, please replace ]20[ with Heisel et al. ]20[ were able ….
2. In line 58, replace ]26[ with Woltjen et al. ]26[ studied the effects ….
3. In line 222, the percentage of killing weeds (15%) using a 1.2W laser did not tabulate in Table 2. In Table 2, this value is 10%? Which of them is correct? Please, revise it.
4. Figures 7 and 9 need to be clear; please amend the resolution of these figures.
5. In the discussion section, the authors should mention the references that are in harmony with their findings. In addition, the causes of their results.
6. In the references list, the authors should add the number of volumes, issues, and pages in the references. In addition, the authors should follow the journal’s style in writing the references. Please, add the pre-mentioned notes and follow the journal style in writing the references one by one.
Author Response
Thank you for your time and effort dedicated to providing your valuable feedback.
Here is point-by-point response to your comments
Comment 1: In line 56, please replace ]20[ with Heisel et al. ]20[ were able ….
Response: Agreed. Modified accordingly
Comment 2: In line 58, replace ]26[ with Woltjen et al. ]26[ studied the effects ….
Response: Agreed. Modified accordingly
Comment 3: In line 222, the percentage of killing weeds (15%) using a 1.2W laser did not tabulate in Table 2. In Table 2, this value is 10%? Which of them is correct? Please, revise it.
Response: Thank you for the observation, however, the 15% is the percentage of weeds killed using 1.2W laser when treated for 1s and 2s combined. Table 2 shows 10% were killed when treated for 1s while 20% were killed for 2s treatment which results in 15% overall.
Comment 4: Figures 7 and 9 need to be clear; please amend the resolution of these figures.
Response: Thanks for the observation, we replaced the figures with better resolution images.
Comment 5: In the discussion section, the authors should mention the references that are in harmony with their findings. In addition, the causes of their results.
Response: We agree with this and we have incorporated some corresponding studies and compared their findings to ours in the discussion section.
Comment 6: In the references list, the authors should add the number of volumes, issues, and pages in the references. In addition, the authors should follow the journal’s style in writing the references. Please, add the pre-mentioned notes and follow the journal style in writing the references one by one.
Response: Thanks for pointing this out, we have changed the references template to the ACS one suggested in the journal and prepared the references with EndNote which follows the journal style.
Reviewer 3 Report
Abstract:
-Do you also investigate the effects of laser treatment on crops?
-Lines 18-22: The abstract should conclude with a general conclusion and more statistical results.
Introduction:
-Lines 31-32: Cite the appropriate source as follows: Mehdizadeh et al., 2021.
Mehdizadeh, M.; Mushtaq, W.; Anusha Siddiqui, S.; Ayadi, S.; Kaur, P.; Yeboah, S.; Mazraedoost, S.; AL-Taey, D.K.A.; Tampubolon, K. Herbicide Residues in Agroecosystems: Fate, Detection, and Effect on Non-Target Plants. Rev. Agric. Sci. 2021, 9, 157–167. https://doi.org/10.7831/ras.9.0_157
Lines 89-98: This should be moved to the materials and methods section.
Materials and methods:
-For grain-based crops, is this method practical and cost-effective?
Lines 106-117: Provide a reference related to this text.
Results and Discussion:
Table 2- The last row: In your opinion, are these treatments safe for crops?
Conclusions:
After researching these methods for controlling weeds, you concluded that they were effective. The experiments should, however, be conducted in the presence of both crops and weeds in order to reach such a conclusion. How do you feel about this?
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you for your time and effort dedicated to providing your valuable feedback.
Here is point-by-point response to your comments
Abstract
Comment 1: Do you also investigate the effects of laser treatment on crops?
Response: It would have been interesting to investigate this, however, it was out of scope for this study. We plan to further investigate the effect of both weeds and crops when we do field tests.
Comment 2: Lines 18-22: The abstract should conclude with a general conclusion and more statistical results.
Response: Thank you for the observation, we changed the abstract to add the general conclusion on diode lasers potential in weed management and then the statistical analysis summary.
Introduction
Comment 3: Lines 31-32: Cite the appropriate source as follows: Mehdizadeh et al., 2021.
Mehdizadeh, M.; Mushtaq, W.; Anusha Siddiqui, S.; Ayadi, S.; Kaur, P.; Yeboah, S.; Mazraedoost, S.; AL-Taey, D.K.A.; Tampubolon, K. Herbicide Residues in Agroecosystems: Fate, Detection, and Effect on Non-Target Plants. Rev. Agric. Sci. 2021, 9, 157–167. https://doi.org/10.7831/ras.9.0_157
Response: Agreed. Revised accordingly
Comment 4: Lines 89-98: This should be moved to the materials and methods section.
Response: Agreed. The paragraph was moved to the materials and methods section
Materials and methods
Comment 5: For grain-based crops, is this method practical and cost-effective?
Response: This method is more effective in killing broadleaf weeds, so it should be practical for these kinds of weeds regardless of the crop. Regarding the costs, one of the main attractions of diode lasers is that they are inexpensive, so it is our hope that the final robotic system will be cost-effective.
Comment 6: Lines 106-117: Provide a reference related to this text.
Response: This text just describes the specifications of the laser diode that we used in our experiments. The diodes were selected arbitrary and classified based on the closeness of their powers.
Results and Discussion
Comment 7: Table 2- The last row: In your opinion, are these treatments safe for crops?
Response: A direct hit to the crops wouldn’t be safe, which is why we need a precise system to target the weed. Deep learning enables us to discriminate between crops and weeds together with obtaining the precise position of the weed, in addition to that, using a backstop to stop the laser beam as suggested in the article, can prevent hitting non-targeted plants
Conclusions
Comment 8: After researching these methods for controlling weeds, you concluded that they were effective. The experiments should, however, be conducted in the presence of both crops and weeds in order to reach such a conclusion. How do you feel about this?
Response: Thank you for the suggestion, we agree that further investigation in presence of both weeds and crops is important. The next iteration of the project will test the system in the field which should involve both weeds and crops
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors responded to my comments point-by-point, and I am satisfied with their responses.
