The JV has been registered as Bosch BASF Smart Farming (BBSF) GmbH.

BBSF has since set up its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, and appointed experienced managing directors BASF's Silvia Cifre Wibrow and Bosch's Florian Gwosdz to jointly lead the company.

The company will distribute its Smart Spraying solution, which Bosch and BASF are developing and testing, to initial markets in North America, South America and Europe.

Its Intelligent Planting Solution is already commercially available in Brazil and Argentina in South America, and will use the advanced digital agronomic intelligence of BASF's xarvio crop optimisation platform to enhance zone-based seeding recommendations in the near future in Brazil.

The Smart Spraying solution offers real-time, automated pre-emergence (green-on-brown) and post-emergence or green-on-green weed identification and management day and night.

Combining Bosch's high-tech camera sensor technology and software with xarvio's agronomic intelligence enables Smart Spraying in milliseconds to precisely detect weeds in crop rows and to spot apply herbicide only where needed.
Trials have shown herbicide volume savings of 70 per cent are achievable, according to BBSF.

"We have reached another important milestone in receiving merger control approval and have made considerable progress in the past few months," said Florian Gwosdz, joint managing director of BBSF.

"Our Smart Spraying Solution continues to return consistent, positive test results, which clearly shows the combination of our hardware, software and advanced agronomic logic delivers."

"With Smart Spraying, we are bringing a new digital solution to market and new approach to weed management - a volume-optimisation model that increases farm profitability through a more precise and efficient use of herbicide," said Silvia Cifre Wibrow, joint managing director of BBSF.

BBSF remains on-track to launch the Smart Spraying solution in limited numbers by the end of this year.