Drones, also known as uncrewed Aerial Vehicles, are making waves in the agricultural industry by providing smart solutions in many ways of farming. It uses real-time data gathering to streamline various agricultural practices spread across the farms and stables to maintain the livestock. This way, modern farmers save both time and money, which can be used for other purposes in business. Due to all the advantages these drones can provide to their users, there has been a surge in the number of Agriculture Drone Manufacturing Company India to cater to all the new users of technology and innovation in the farming businesses.
UAVs in Agriculture
Due to the demand due to the increasing population, extreme weather conditions, and massive climate change, farming practitioners are looking for innovations that can help them improve their productivity while maintaining the sustainability and reliability of the industry inside. Hence, the emergence of drone technology in these sectors has proven to be an excellent solution for unaddressed issues in the last few decades.
Farmers can see a bird’s eye view of their fields from a high latitude with agriculture. This bird’s eye view is very helpful in accessing problems like irrigation problems, soil variation, pest or fungal infestation, and livestock management. The high-resolution cameras and sensors attached to the drones take precise multispectral images, allowing a near-infrared and visual spectrum view of the large farming lands spread across acres. These images help the farmers analyze their crops and detect any discontinuity and uniformity between healthy and unhealthy crops. Due to the variable images provided by the drones, farmers can detect problems that were previously very hard to spot with the naked eye. At the same time, humans conduct things by visiting and inspecting the farm.
Also, farmers can use drones according to their liking and requirements to get imaging data of crops based on any time frame, be it weekly, daily, or hourly. This meticulous imaging and data collection helps to spot even the smallest of issues or changes in the crop growth or soil condition, thus allowing troubleshooting potential problems.
Benefits of Drone Technology in Agriculture
Farmers have started innovating using drone technology in many parts of the world, and it has become an inevitable part of large-scale precision farming operations. The data collected by the drones assist farmers in planning their planting and treatment routines, which helps them achieve the best possible results. Some studies have shown that farming using this technology has increased yield by almost 5%. The number might seem very small, but it is a significant margin in industries like farming, where seeing profits and growth has a very slim chance.
So, in this article, we will explore the areas where agricultural drones have shown significant improvement in the farming and agricultural business.
- Scouting and monitoring plant health
One area of using agricultural drones that has already shown great success is monitoring plant health. These drones are equipped with special imaging equipment called the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which uses detailed colour information to indicate plant health. This precision imagery helps the farmers prevent any disruption in the appearance of the crops, which can be a sign of severe problems with the plan or soil health. This early inspection helps the farmers take further preventative measures faster than they used to use satellite imagery.
- Planting and seeding
It is a newer application of drones in agriculture, and these UAVs are now used for planting seeds in the field. Currently, Automated drone seeders are most widely used in the forestry industry, but there is potential for widespread usage if farming practitioners show keen interest in using them more efficiently.
Planting seeds using drones means better reachability to hard-to-reach areas without endangering men’s safety. Operations can also be maximized by planting larger portions of land using much less time and the number of heads of men.
- Spray application
Using drones to conduct spray applications in Southeast Asia is already widespread among farming business owners. These UAVs now do almost 30% of the spray applications, greatly minimizing manual labour intervention. Drone sprayers are excellent for navigating very hard-to-reach spots for workers. Workers previously faced many challenges while working in steep tea fields at high altitudes, but now this risk has been cut short using such technological innovations.
- Security and surveillance
Drones used for security purposes are a different sector of drone application altogether. Still, agricultural business owners now use these drones to streamline their fields and farms’ security and surveillance operations. Monitoring the far-to-reach portions of the farm without having to travel there themselves has made farming operations very convenient and safe.
- Innovative irrigation
So, actions have started during experiments and new research regarding how to use drones for irrigation purposes in the agricultural sector. This newer application of drones has already become quite a success in many parts of the world. As climate causes increasingly affect rainfall, many places face frequent drought conditions all year round in different seasons, so irrigation using drones has helped farmers minimize water usage and maximize the effects of effective irrigation in far-to-reach portions of farms.
Drones have vastly altered the agricultural industry and will continue to show great results infused ethically and correctly in the coming years. It is a promising solution to plenty of issues in the upcoming decades, but there are still areas of improvement. So, you plan to invest in this equipment to get the best results in your farming and agricultural business. In that case, you must connect with us at OEFHZ, a reputed name in India’s ordnance and drone manufacturing industry that provides premium solutions to military and civilians nationwide and worldwide.
