| The introduction of drones in the agricultural industry has been an advantage on different levels. It offers ease in purposes like chemical spraying, crop monitoring, terrain analysis, easing human labour, and helping in the overall increase in the crop yield.
Vidur Varma,
CEO, AgriWings
Besides the aforesaid aspects, drone-based agricultural farming techniques are also beneficial in generating employment as it requires professionally trained and DGCA-certified pilots who operate these UAVs with efficiency and skill, which fetches fruitful results for the farmers and the crops.
In terms of surveillancing the crops, there’s no substitute for drones. Human labour is restricted by certain limitations outside which it cannot exercise an effective control over monitoring the crops. This is the place where drones step in. In the recent past, these drones have knocked open a wide window for a plethora of opportunities and scope for the agrarian community in India.
Advantages of Drones In Agriculture Sector
Drones can be brought into usage for a large number of purposes. These included:
- Chemical Spraying:
Chemical spraying conducted through drones is magnificently essential for farmers. Contacting hazardous chemicals and pesticides poses a health risk on these farmers. But with drones, there remains no physical contact with these chemicals which automatically rules out the possibility of developing any health risks in them. Moreover, it also saves a great deal of water and minimises its quantity optimally.
- Terrain Analysis:
Terrain analysis is a crucial factor which determines the fate of agriculture in a country. These drones come equipped with advanced sensors and scientifically programmed algorithms which determines the terrain type and gives an accurate insight into the type of crops that should be grown on that tract of land.
- Analysing Crop Needs:
Drones are also capable of analysing the crop needs more effectively than human labourers. They are targeted at the crops and determine the hydration levels, chemical requirements, pH balance of the soil, along with analysing the health of the crops. All these factors, when kept in check, result in a handsome crop yield which simultaneously increases the productivity of the farmers.
- Surveillancing Crops:
Surveillancing the crops is as important as spraying pesticides and chemicals. Drones are equipped with advanced precision based imaging sensors and cameras which keep a thorough eye on the security of the crops. Moreover, drones can also be utilised in figuring out any formulating pest attacks on the crops much earlier which helps the farmer take immediate precautionary measures to prevent it.
How Are Drones Better At Surveillancing Crops Than Humans?
Drones are qualitatively superior to human beings in terms of surveillancing the crop fields because:
- These are not bound by the limitations which circumscribe human beings such as fatigue, health risks, negligence and so on and so forth.
- These are capable of monitoring the crops even on those terrains where human access becomes either limited or impossible.
- Endowed with the capacities of aerial imaging and mapping out the field conditions, these are better substitutes for crop monitoring as compared to the conventional means.
The skyrocketing hike in the global scene of using drones for crop surveillance and chemical spraying purposes can better be understood by numbers.
Statistical Data On Using Drones For Surveillancing Crops
- According to recent reports, the switching over to drones for the sake of chemical spraying and crop surveillance expanded at 12.3% CAGR between 2018 and 2022 globally. Furthermore, it is estimated that drone based crop monitoring shall grow at the rate of 14.4% CAGR between 2023 and 2033.
- The Agri tech drone based chemical spraying and crop monitoring market stands valued at a whopping USD 167.95 mn in 2022, which is projected to go all along to USD 797.66 mn by 2031.
- A recent report provided an insight that India has a total of 13,000 drones registered for various agricultural purposes, chiefly chemical spraying and crop surveillancing, as of December 2023.
- A more recent report showed that the farmers of Punjab and Haryana were the most active users of drone based chemical spraying and monitoring purposes.
These numbers justify quite well the efficiency of drones in the agriculture sector which are used for the purposes of crop monitoring and chemical spraying.
