Drones in Agriculture to generate Revenue

Jun 20, 2018 News

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By Mike Mohan

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The introduction of drones for agriculture as suggested by the Minister Cathy Hughes is an incredibly great idea for Guyana – to create employment, increase foreign exchange, and help solve the world food shortage crisis.

Most important, “Agricultural Drones” increase agricultural productivity by over 70%. Soil and field analysis, planting, monitoring, spraying, irrigation, health assessment, and ease of deployment are just some of the benefits.
Technology is changing the way we live, work and think. Therefore, agricultural producers must embrace revolutionary strategies for producing food, increasing productivity, while making sustainability a priority.
Drones are part of the solution; there must also be closer collaboration among governments, technology leaders, and industries.
Drones were once deployed mainly for military targets resulting minimal loss of human life and a reduced war budget. Today, it is used for a wide range of everyday advantages including search and rescue, surveillance, delivery services and even hobbies. However, most importantly, it is used in many developed countries including Canada for efficient agricultural management. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_agriculture
The number of farmers adopting the use of drones in their farms in developed countries is growing steadily. Drones offer them a low-cost aerial camera platform. This way, farmers can cost-effectively monitor their crops. Drones are used to capture images, which are later processed using software to create a reflectance map of the crops on the farmland.
It is ideal as a soil and field analysis. Its 3-D maps conduct soil analysis on soil property, moisture content, and soil erosion. This is very important in planning seed planting patterns. Even after planting, such data information is useful for both irrigation and the management of the nitrogen level in the soil.
Manufacturers are perfecting the technology for planting shooting pods containing seeds and plant nutrients into the already prepared soil. This process significantly reduces the planting costs.
Instant crop monitoring of vast fields has replaced the current manual process, which we deploy on Guyana. This modern monitoring process reduces maintenance costs significantly. Drones can be used to develop time series animations to show precise crop development, which reveals production inefficiencies hence better crop management.
Using ultrasonic echoing and lasers, drones can adjust altitude automatically with a change in topography and geography. Its ability to scan and modulate distance from the ground enables drones to spray the correct amount of the desired liquid evenly in real time and without unexpected landscape collisions.
Thermal sensors help identify moisture level in the field to allow proper irrigation and timely water management.  In addition, thermal cameras on drones can be used to detect leaks and determine if crops are getting too much or too little water.
Some drones are capable of scanning crops using visible and near infrared light. On-board 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, which depict the plant health.
These images can be used to track crop health and to monitor remedied treatment if any sickness is discovered.
While extreme weather conditions are on the rise and the world population is expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, agricultural demand will increase by up to 70%. Meeting the world’s food demand is a major challenge for most leaders worldwide.
This demand could create huge foreign exchange earning opportunities for Guyana. With a large land mass and small population, Government needs to create incentives to encourage more farmers and investors to embrace agricultural drone technology along with affordable land lease opportunities.
Increase food harvesting can create employment, help lower food prices and create massive food export market for Guyana.
These drones can also be further modified with other accessories to perform aerial security monitoring of the entire farmland to help control movement of livestock, and dishonest trespassers.
And, during moments of emergencies, it can also serve as a search and rescue device.
A modest choice of drone suitable for Guyanese farmers would be the Phantom 4 Pro, which 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 using 3D-mapping + NDVI (with the help of an app), and photography. However, it is important for users of this Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to register it with the Guyana Civil Aviation and to follow the official usage guidelines.
Drone technology keeps improving every day. With many manufacturers entering the industry, the cost of the drones and the accompanying equipment will constantly reduce.
Over time, flight duration and distance range for drones will increase as technology improves. These improvements will ensure that farmers reap more from the use of drones. The important question farmers will be faced with today is should they wait, and risk opportunity lost, or, take the risk of an early starter.
I took the risk with computers 27 years ago, and I feel blessed everyday with the results I experience today.

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