Agricultural drones are drones applied to farming in order to help increase crop production and monitor crop growth. Through the use of advanced sensors and digital imaging capabilities, farmers are able to use these drones to help them gather a richer picture of their fields. Information gathered from such equipment may prove useful in improving crop yields and farm efficiency.
Current use
Agricultural drones allow relief for the modern day farmer. Not even 100 years ago, horse-drawn tractors were still being used as an everyday means for the average farmer. Drone technology can cut down labour requirements and reduce resource requirements (such as fresh water and pesticides). Farmers are also able to use drones to retrieve aerial-view images of their fields; there are currently three different types of view provided to the farmer through a drone. The first is seeing the crop from a birds’ eye view; this particular view can reveal many issues such as irrigation problems, soil variation, and of course, pest and fungal infestations. The second view that is able to be received from the drones is something that known as multispectral images; these images are used to show an infrared view as well as a visual spectrum view. When these views are combined, the farmer is able to see the differences between healthy and unhealthy plants. This difference is no t always clearly visible to the naked eye, so having the ability to see the crops from these views can assist the farmer with assessing crop growth, as well as crop production. Additionally, the drone can survey the crops for the farmer periodically to their liking. From a choice of weekly, daily, or to each hour, the farmer is able to use this information to show the changes in the crops over time, thus showing where there might be some “trouble spotsâ€. This proves to be a key benefit because by identifying these trouble spots, the farmer can then attempt to improve crop management and improve the overall production of their crop.
Legality
As drones first started arriving in the agricultural world, the Federal Aviation Administration (better known as the FAA) had actually encouraged farmers to use this new technology in the assistance of monitoring their fields. However, with the unexpected and successful boom of agricultural drones, the FAA had quickly retracted such encouragement until rules and regulations could be made and implemented. With incidents such as drones crashing into crop dusters, it was vital for the FAA and the AFBF (American Farm Bureau Federation) to come together in forming regulations that would allow the beneficial use of such drones to be operated in a safe and efficient manner. Although the American Farm Bureau Federation would like to still work with the Federal Aviation Administration in making small adjustments to some of the restrictions that have been implemented, they are happy that there has a meeting in the middle so that agricultural industry can actually use this new machinery with out the worry of facing any legal issues. In short, by having legal guidelines to ensure safety and security aspects, this up and coming technology is allowed to finally start making headway in the agricultural industry.
Security aspects
While there are many ways to improve crop growth through the use of agricultural drones, there is also a question of its security aspect. Through the use of drones, farmers are able to monitor and record their crop. Though, what if an alternative company started flying their drones in unregulated areas and surveying their competition? Such a scenario could lead to compromising vital company secrets. People want to know that they are safe and protected at all times, so the burden doesn’t just fall on the farmer, but these are burdens that can fall on the shoulders of many of those around the farmer, too.
There are many ethical and social implications when dealing with agricultural drones. One positive in regards to the ethical implication is that they are able to monitor and control the use of pesticides properly. This is a very important aspect as it allows for minimum pesticides to be used in order to attempt to reduce the amount of pesticides released into the environment. In turn, this helps decrease unnecessary pesticide use that can harm the surrounding environment of the crop production. On the other hand, however, a negative side of this is the unauthorized access drones receive when flying under 400 feet. Unauthorized access to flying freely is allowed if it is under 400 feet. When this is the case, and drones can have microphones and camera attached, it tends to leave a grey area of what is ethically okay to monitor. There is a growing concern for the potential of one's privacy to be violated, which in turn has caused some opposition towards drones. Due to there being un certainty of how protected someone’s privacy is in regards to a drone flying overhead of them, some people are saying that this allows room and potential for spying or stalking of citizens.
Future use
There is a lot of room for growth with agricultural drones. With technology constantly improving, imaging of the crops will need to improve as well. With the data that drones record from the crops the farmers are able to analyze their crops and make educated decisions on how to proceed given the accurate crop information. Software programs for analyzing and correcting crop production have the potential to grow in this market. Close your eyes and imagine a farmer being able to fly a drone over their crops, be able to accurately identify an issue in a specific area, and then take the necessary actions in order to resolve the problem. Having this capability allows the farmer to, in turn, have more time to focus on the big picture of production instead of spending time surveying their crops. The drones allow for real time data to be delivered back to the user to be inspected, which for a farmer, is a huge game changer.
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