[Modern Agriculture] Agricultural drones: advantages and practical cases

Drones are now widely used in many industries. Today, the agricultural drone market is worth $1.3 billion, and agriculture is now the second largest industry in terms of drone adoption after construction.

The future of drones in agriculture looks promising: analysts say the market for agricultural drones will reach $6.52 billion by 2026, a growth rate of 31.4%. As drone costs decrease and agricultural drone software becomes more sophisticated, demand will continue to grow.

Why Use Agricultural Drones

So, what can drones do for agriculture? The answer to this question boils down to improving overall efficiency, but drones can do more than that. As drones become an integral part of smart (or “precision”) agriculture, they help growers address a variety of challenges and gain a host of benefits.

Most of these benefits come from real-time data and reduced uncertainty. Success in agriculture often depends on factors that farmers have little or no control over: weather and soil conditions, temperature, precipitation, and more. The key to efficiency lies in their ability to adjust, which is largely influenced by accurate, near-real-time information.

The use of drone technology can be a real game changer. By accessing vast amounts of data, farmers can increase crop yields, save time, reduce expenses, and act with unparalleled accuracy and precision.

The world we know today is fast-paced: changes and shifts occur almost in the blink of an eye. Adaptation is critical, and given population growth and changing weather conditions around the world, farmers will be called upon to leverage a new generation of technology to address emerging challenges.

How Drone Technology Works

Typically, drone structures include propulsion and navigation systems, GPS, sensors and cameras, programmable controllers, and autonomous flight equipment.

The technology used in drones for agriculture enables them to capture more accurate information than aircraft and satellites can collect. Drone-based agtech software processes the collected data and provides it in an easy-to-read format.

In summary, the data collection process for agricultural drones consists of four logical steps:

1. Planning the flight trajectory: The surveillance area is delineated and assessed, and GPS information is uploaded to the drone navigation system.

2. Automated flight: The drone executes a flight pattern based on pre-set parameters and collects the required data.

3. Data upload: The drone submits the data it captures for processing and analysis.

4. Information output: After the data is processed, it is sent to the grower in a readable format. The report contains insightful information that helps make better farm management decisions.

Agricultural Drone Practice

Drones are gaining momentum for precision agriculture due to their ability to provide up-to-date information quickly and efficiently. The development of drone software and its overall affordability also explain the increase in drone applications.

• Soil Monitoring

Smart agriculture is data-driven, enabling growers to act on accurate information about soil conditions. Extracting this data previously involved field visits and manually collecting metrics. Drones are equipped with smart sensors for agriculture that can collect and deliver this data – needless to say, they can do so in a faster and more precise manner, too.

• Planting Crops

The soil is prepared for planting, and drones plant seeds in it, rather than using outdated planting techniques. Using drones for seed planting is relatively new, but some companies are experimenting with this approach.

Drones can also spray fields with water, fertilizers, or herbicides, reducing the cost, labor, and time of these processes.

• Fighting Infections and Pests

Agricultural drones can not only inform growers about soil conditions using thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral technologies, but can also detect areas of the field infested with weeds, infections, and pests. Based on this data, farmers can decide the exact amount of chemicals needed to combat pests, which not only helps reduce expenses but also helps improve farmland health.

• Agricultural Spraying

Smart farms also use drones for agricultural spraying, which helps limit human exposure to fertilizers, pesticides, and other harmful chemicals. Drones can handle this task faster and more efficiently than vehicles and aircraft; they are also a good option for farms that still use manual labor.

Drones are also irreplaceable when it comes to field treatments. They can detect infected areas with sensors and cameras and treat them while leaving the healthy parts of the field intact. This not only saves time and improves safety, but also helps reduce expenses.

• Crop Monitoring

Farmland covers a large area, and it is often almost impossible to estimate the overall condition of crops. By using drones for agricultural mapping, farmers can always know the health of plants in a specific area and indicate which fields need attention.

To estimate the condition of crops, drones inspect fields with infrared cameras and determine light absorption. Based on accurate, real-time information, farmers can take measures to improve the condition of plants in any location.

• Livestock Monitoring

In livestock farming, drones can monitor cattle as they graze in pastures, reducing the need for labor on horses and trucks. Using thermal sensor technology, drones can find lost cattle, detect injured or sick animals, and count their exact numbers. Indeed, drones are able to monitor cattle better than sheepdogs.