Guessing it makes it more flexible to use since it is self-contained, so it could be used on whatever size or configuration of field.
It sounds like a gasoline engine? That seems an interesting choice.
It sounds like a gasoline engine? That seems an interesting choice.
Downsides is of course pollution etc, even if diesel engines have gotten a lot cleaner over the years.
We eat that. (and thus need to wash it, to mitigate that)
And the same design would likely work with a battery at some point in the future. But currently diesel is standard on the fields.
If the device was solar instead of diesel, that wouldn't move the needle on the dirtiness of the crops. Even the pollution from wear&tear on tires and brakes is more relevant than fuel - we worry about fossil fuels due to the global effect of greenhouse gas emissions, we also care about people breathing in small particles from diesel exhaust, but it doesn't really harm food in farms.
It's really not that much. A combine harvester uses about 15 gallons / hour of fuel and harvests ~450,000 pounds of corn per hour ie more than a lifetimes supply of food. Various other equipment gets used but it's all trivial in comparison to what's directly sprayed on crops.
Meanwhile your directly exposed to all the car fumes around you on a daily basis. Also, tulips aren't a food crop.