Farms today are bursting with engineering marvels, the
result of years of automation and other innovations
designed to grow more food with less labor. Tractors
autonomously plant seeds within a few centimeters of
their target locations, and GPS-guided harvesters reap
the crops with equal accuracy. Extensive wireless networks backhaul data on soil hydration and environmental factors to faraway servers for analysis. But what
if we could add to these capabilities the ability to more
comprehensively assess the water content of soil, become more rigorous in our ability to spot irrigation and
pest problems, and get a general sense of the state of
the farm, every day or even every hour? The implications cannot be stressed enough. Farming is an input-
output problem. If we can reduce the inputs—water
and pesticides—and maintain the same output, we will
be overcoming the central challenge to feed the 9.6
billion people on Earth by 2050.
Agricultural drones are becoming a tool like any other
consumer device, and we’re starting to talk about what
we can do with them. Ryan Kunde wants to irrigate
less, use less pesticide, and ultimately produce better
wine. More and better data can reduce water use and
lower the chemical load in our environment and our
food. Seen this way, what started as a military technology may end up better known as a green-tech tool,
and our kids will grow up used to flying robots buzzing
over farms like tiny crop dusters”.
Whatever your specific needs may be, there is a drone
out there waiting for you. However you will also have
to take note of the legislation and requirements involved with these, as you cannot just go out and start
flying. For more information, I suggest you visit the
Safe Drone website http://www.safedrone.co.za/. New
regulations for flying drones in South Africa are effective from 1 July 2015. This website has been created for
all to understand the new legal requirements. The Safe
Drone website is not for profit, and all articles are created by industry experts who want to assist all interested in the drone industry, including operators and clients.
Sources:
https://shadowproof.com/2013/10/11/dont-use-theword-drones-theyre-uavs/
http://farmingdrones.com/
http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2015/dec/26/drones-farming-cropproblems-uavs
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/526491/
agricultural-drones/
An MQ-9 Reaper, a hunter-killer surveillance UAVdrones were initially designed for spying, warfare and
eventual destruction of enemy sites, troops etc.
Picture by U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson - USAF Photographic Archives (image permalink), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3268457