Drones in Farming and Agriculture

Have you ever heard about male bees used in farming? These are actually the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) commonly known to you and me as drones, which are used in fields and orchards. It is an inexpensive option for farmers and its use is revolutionizing agriculture. Drones being used in farming and agriculture is a billion dollar opportunity which will gain momentum in the coming years.

Cost Minimization: The most important reason behind using drones is for minimizing service costs. Cost minimization means a lot to farmers especially farmers holding a wide area for farming, can survey a large area quickly. When it comes to minimizing crop losses drones have a relevant part to play in the farming process. Costs utilizing drones are much lower than traditional methods of crop dusting to prevent plants from suffering any harmful diseases such as Peach leaf curl, Pear leaf spot, Mildew, Red rot of sugarcane, Potato blight, and late blight of tomato for example.

Crop Assessment: Drones with the latest imaging systems can spot the areas where there is a potential problem. Sensors measure wavelengths of light absorbed and reflected by plants to generate color-contrast images that help to detect nutrient flaws. The different highlighted colors in an image also help to spot injured and stressed plants.

Water scaling: All farms are not uniformly straight and flat that culminate in a non-uniform flow of water and many plants remain dry or dry out faster. Drones help detect the water-flow directions and its concentration highlighted in images that a farmer can easily locate and rectify.

In Pollination: The bee drones the brainchild of an American NY start-up was designed to assist in the pollination process. These are Pollen-dumping drones that have helped to pollinate apple orchards, cherry, and almond. The most interesting thing about these drones is revealed by the company that is showing its strength of increasing pollination by up to 40 percent! Cattle Herding: Drones used in cattle farming can be used to cover huge areas of land to locate and even count head of cattle. Having this extra set of eyes in the sky can prevent losses in livestock and also when equipped with thermal imaging technology can locate cattle in low light conditions. Drones have even been used to herd cattle and even monitor sick or stressed animals.

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