Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka; President and CEO: Shingo Hanada; hereinafter “Kubota”) has invested in Kilter AS (Head Office: Akershus, Kingdom of Norway; Managing Directors: Anders Brevik and Kristoffer Magnor; hereinafter “Kilter”), a Norwegian agritech company that develops, manufactures and sells the “AX-1,” an autonomous robot equipped with ultra-high-precise herbicide spraying technology. Beginning in 2026, Kubota will also start offering the “AX-1” in Germany and the Netherlands through its European sales network.

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  “AX-1”: An ultra‑high‑precision herbicide spraying robot operating in the field

• Excessive use of agricultural pesticides can contaminate soil, water, and air. For this reason, the EU has positioned the reduction of chemical pesticide use as a key policy issue aimed at lowering environmental impact and achieving sustainable food production.
• In the EU, the number of active ingredients permitted for use in herbicides is limited, and herbicide-resistant weeds have become increasingly common. As a result, the burden of weed control has grown. This has increased the need for more precise and sustainable weed management technologies that can both reduce environmental impact and maintain crop yields.
• Kilter’s AI-powered ultra-high precise spot-spraying robot, “AX-1”, is equipped with the company’s proprietary Single Drop Technology, which enables the application of individual herbicide droplets onto target areas as small as 6 × 6 millimeters. This technology allows “AX-1”to apply only the minimum required amount of herbicide while performing highly efficient weeding operations right up to the edge of crops—without causing any damage. By significantly reducing overall herbicide usage, “AX-1” contributes both to environmental sustainability and to enhancing agricultural productivity.
• Kilter already sells the “AX-1” to producers of high-value crops in Norway, Sweden, Germany, and other countries, and the robot is compatible with more than 15 crop types. Going forward, the company plans to further expand the range of applicable crops and strengthen its sales structure in Germany and the Netherlands through Kubota’s sales network.
• Kubota will continue promoting precision-agriculture solutions and contributing to the realization of sustainable farming.

• “AX-1” Demonstration Videos
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmjcvS3ocHc

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