Drones enhance crop spraying

Spray Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Sensing. Agribusiness is transforming as a result of digitalization, and startups have been allied to help solve real pains for producers, increasing efficiency and reducing losses.

This is the case of ADS Drones Solutions, which wants to help demystify the use of drones by producers. “The spraying drone is one of the most sensational technologies in agribusiness. The market is very hot. There is some resistance, but as soon as the producers get to know the product, they realize that it can be strategic in the field”, comments Eng. Agronomist and coordinator of ADS Events, Isabella Junges Rosa.

The company, which is present at the Agrodigital Arena, at the 23rd Expodireto Cotrijal, in Não-Me-Toque (RS), is the official representative of the Chinese DJI, the largest manufacturer of drones in the world – for every 10 of these devices sold, eight are of the brand .

Scientists from Embrapa Soja (PR) confirmed in a study the good performance of agricultural drones as spraying vehicles in the control of two important pests of soybeans in Brazil: the brown bug and the red soy caterpillar. The equipment was tested in the 2020/2021 harvest for the application of chemical and biological products, and compared with other methods such as tractors and backpack sprayers.

“The drone allows 100% of the crop to be harvested, and its quality is far superior to other spraying devices. Not to mention that, with training, it becomes very easy to handle and does not need large structures to be transported”, explains the agronomist.

For 2023, the flagship of the company’s sales strategy will be the DJI T40, a sprayer that is being launched with a 40kg capacity and capable of making an application range of between nine and ten meters.

“It is equipment with many evolutions, with automated processes. It is possible to set the flow, speed and height of the flight and the drone regulates itself based on the patterns and the geographical profile of the crop, such as correcting the height if necessary”, he explains. The DJI T40 also maps from a more sophisticated camera in this version.

Rúmina, on the other hand, seeks to simplify the adoption of technologies by producers, whether biotechnology, sensors, software, financial solutions and Artificial Intelligence.

One of the brands present at Rúmina’s stand is OnFarm, which operates in animal health, promoting the control of mastitis in dairy cows, the disease that causes the most damage to the dairy sector. With the use of technology, approximately 50% of cases of clinical mastitis do not need to be treated with antibiotics, the producer reduces expenses with medicines, minimizes the disposal of milk, thus being able to sell it and contributes to the concept of sustainability by avoiding the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

“We have 250 farms served in the state and more than 20,000 samples registered in the application, potentially avoiding the disposal of 750,000 liters of milk, which represent savings of BRL 390 million for the state in these 5 years”, details Gabriel Toledo, director of Marketing and Sales at Rúmina, which is also at Expodireto with the brands Ideagri, RumiCash, RumiTank and RumiScor.