Agricultural Drones Revolutionizing Farms of the Future

   By; Shailesh K. Saxena

The report, from the Global Harvest Initiative, states that with a world population expected to be at least 9 billion people in 2050, the demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel will likely outpace food production if the current rate of output remains the same. Concerns around food security have grown in recent years, with food price spikes focusing attention on rising food demand and how this will be met. Institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have published projections of an increase in global food demand out to 2050. The FAO projections indicate that world food demand may increase by 70 percent by 2050, with much of the projected increase in global food demand expected to come from rising consumer incomes in regions such as Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Farmers are always pressured to deliver higher food yields due to the ever-increasing human population. This is where technology comes in. Drone farming has now become a game changer in the way farmers evaluate, spray, and plan for future crop growth. Drones can save farmers time, money, and fertilizer. Now, the time has come to switch from traditional methods to technological methods. Drones are part of the solution. But, when combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), it can lead to major breakthroughs in agricultural development. 

Internet-connected drones can help farmers in the following ways..........

Yuneec H520; A broad range of aerial survey applications

A) Analysis;

Drones could be used for soil and field analysis. They can be used to produce accurate 3-D maps that can be used to conduct soil analysis on soil property, moisture content, and soil erosion. This is very important in planning seed planting patterns. Even after planting, such information is useful for both irrigation and the management of the nitrogen level in the soil.

B)Planting; 

Though not quite prevalent just yet, some manufacturers have come up with systems able to shoot pods containing seeds and plant nutrients into the already prepared soil. This profoundly reduces the planting costs.

C) Spraying;

TYX AG 405; Spraying Drone

 Using ultrasonic echoing and lasers, drones can adjust altitude with a change in topography and geography. Their ability to scan and modulate its distance from the ground enables them to spray the correct amount of the desired liquid evenly in real-time. This results in increased efficiency since the amount of water penetrating into groundwater is minimized. Spraying using drones has also proven to be faster than other traditional methods.

D) Monitoring;

DJI Matrice ( M-100 )  Perfect for imaging &
sensor commercial applications

One of the largest obstacles in farming is inefficient crop monitoring of vast fields. This challenge is made worse by the rise of unpredictable weather patterns which lead to increased risks and maintenance costs. Drones can be used to develop time series animations to show precise crop development which reveals production inefficiencies and hence better crop management.                                                                                                                                                                                        
E) Crop Health;

Picture; https://bestdroneforthejob.com

Some drones are capable of scanning crops using visible and near-infrared light. Onboard light processing devices are then able to identify the amounts of green and near-infrared light reflected by the plants. This data is then used to develop multi-spectral images that depict the plant's health. These images can be used to track crop health and to monitor remedies administered if any sickness is discovered.

F) Irrigation;

 Drones with hyperspectral, multispectral, or thermal sensors can identify which parts of a field are dry or need improvements.

G) Crop Insurance;

Aerial imagery can be used to quickly classify surveyed areas into cultivated and non-cultivated land and to assess how much damage has been caused by natural disasters. Crop insurers and insurance policyholders also benefit from readily available and easily repeatable drone imagery.

Other Benefits;

Tall crop canopy of sugarcane, pigeon pea, horticultural crop, etc. has proven problematic for efficient spraying operation with conventional farm machines. In wetland conditions, ground-moving machines also induce adverse impacts such as hardpan development. Impact assessment data through the drone of natural clematises e.g. drought, flood, hailstorm, etc. may be used for crop insurance or policy planning as it can provide data more precise and reliable. The innovative Dro platform for farming may lure rural youth which diminishes, as it has a comfortable working environment. It will also generate employment opportunities in the rural sector which may address the social balance.

Drone Farming Also Beneficial For The Environment ;

Precisely controlling where and when to spray fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides with drones can minimize excessive fertilizer use. Too much fertilizer on plants can result in what is called fertilizer burn, or a condition in which plants become unhealthy and nearly unusable. The increased accuracy of fertilizer spray with drones decreases the chances of fertilizer runoff into local streams and rivers; this means that there are fewer dead zones in lakes because the excessive fertilizers don’t result in the depletion of oxygen in lakes. Basically, less contamination from fertilizers is good for the environment as a whole.

What Are Some Agriculture Drones?

DJI made their first agriculture drone called the Agras MG-1, and it is a spraying drone. Even consumer drones like a DJI Phantom 4 Pro can now use 3DR’s Site Scan app for detailed farm mapping and surveying. When it comes to large-scale operations, farmers usually turn to fixed-wing aircraft such as the PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5, senseFly eBee SQ, and the Honeycomb AgDrone. Fixed-wing UAVs may be less accurate than an octocopter, but the range and flight times are best found with these types of drones.

Limitations of Uses of Drones  ;

 Despite drones being largely banned in India at the moment, this is likely to change soon in the future when the government finds out the best way to manage drones in crowded Indian airspace. For up-to-date drone laws in India, please check the following page, India Drone Laws

While Drone’s would help in making data collection easier, faster, and cheaper; there are still some problems that are major bottlenecks in the use of drones in agriculture. To construct robust crop yield maps, at least a couple of observations over the growing season are needed. However, Drone image quality is highly dependent on weather and environmental conditions at the time of flight, and changing conditions like varying sunlight and cloud cover can make data harder to process. Fragile drones can crash, collide with trees, or get damaged in the unpredictable conditions of tropical forests. Unless these conditions are controlled for, images cannot be compared over time.

 India’s massive agricultural sector presents another obstacle to the widespread adoption of Drone imagery in crop insurance. While Drones will help make data collection faster and cheaper, innovative business models will be required to make crop insurance work on such a massive scale. Therefore, introducing Drone imagery into Indian crop insurance won’t always be easy. Drones and their cameras are too expensive and not every farmer can use them. They might be capable of autonomous flight, but they still require maintenance and skilled operators. And of course, there’s uncertain government regulation. since October 2014, civilians have been banned from using drones in India. A restriction that will likely last until the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) comes up with a regulatory system for commercial drones. While the civilian UAV ban is still in place, some government organizations are beginning to acquire the devices. In January  2016, the Agriculture Ministry announced that it would allow the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) to purchase UAVs for assessing crop damage. The drone could also be used for illegal purposes that can lead to conflict and accusations of spying.

 Conclusions ;

Drones and systems offer a new toolset to growers and farmers to reduce costs and increase yields by minimizing the use of fertilizer, insecticides, fungicides, and other chemicals while improving overall plant health and crop yield. The significant benefits drones offer will make drones ubiquitous in the farming community over the next several years. The rapidly advancing technology will work to improve the effectiveness and ease of use of drones in the years to come. However, the process of flight planning, imaging, post-processing, and maintaining the drones will remain a significant undertaking. 

Three of the Best Priced Drones for Agriculture are as follows:

1. The DJI Phantom 3 Standard. It has a flight time of around 23 minutes and captures very good 12 MP Photos and 2.7k video.It is cheap, and a good starter drone, and can be used for crop monitoring, 3D-mapping + NDVI (with the help of an app), and photography.

2. The Phantom 4 Pro, which can do all that the Standard can do but has a flight time of around 30 minutes and a 7 km control range.It also has obstacle avoidance and a superior 20 MP sensor, shooting video in 4K. It can be used for crop monitoring, 3D mapping +  NDVI (with the help of an app), and photography. 

3. The DJI Inspire 1, an amazing tool which can be used for Thermal Imaging if you combine it with a DJI Zenmuse XT thermal imaging camera. Like the Phantoms it can be used for 3D mapping +  NDVI  (with the help of an app), crop monitoring and photography. It can shoot 4k video in 360⁰.