Drones in Agricultural Monitoring

Agricultural drones help to achieve and improve what’s known as precision agriculture. Precision technology has powered the farming transition in recent years. Monitoring crops from the sky utilizing agricultural drones looks likely to push the next phase, as agronomists, agricultural engineers and farmers switch to UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to obtain more effective crop observations and to schedule and control their activities more precisely. According to the Digital Transformation Monitor, one of the keys to meeting growing food demand and improving current water usage levels lies in the introduction of new technologies to agriculture, including the Internet of Things (‘IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. These technologies are beginning to power or enhance new and existing methods and tools, and have already been deployed on farms – connected tractors are a wellknown example of new technology already in use. Drones however are a more recent and less mature tool in terms of the new technologies driving the development of precision agriculture. Currently, most drones for agricultural use are medium-sized (usually for analysis applications) while larger drones are used when there is a need to carry a load (i.e. planting or spraying applications). Like most industries currently using drones, multi-rotor configurations seem to be the favourite in agriculture, likely due to their lower cost and high level of simplicity.