Low-Altitude Economy and Smart Agriculture Integration
With the continuous advancement of technology, agricultural drones have demonstrated remarkable potential and value in irrigation, fertilization, pesticide spraying, and monitoring of agricultural land. The application of drone technology not only enhances agricultural production efficiency and quality but also promotes sustainable development and modernization in agriculture. From precision irrigation to targeted fertilization, from efficient pesticide spraying to round-the-clock monitoring of land conditions, drones are leading a green revolution powered by technology.
Irrigation Drones: Precise Irrigation, Water-Saving, and Efficient
Drones can perform precise irrigation according to preset flight paths and altitudes, avoiding issues such as water waste and uneven irrigation in traditional methods. By using intelligent control systems to accurately calculate the required water volume, drones achieve water-saving irrigation and improve the efficiency of water resource utilization. Moreover, drones are not limited by terrain conditions and are suitable for various complex farmland environments, significantly expanding the scope of irrigation. With remote control or autonomous flight systems, farmers can easily control the takeoff, flight direction, and altitude of drones, reducing the difficulty of operation.
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According to People's Daily, in Changge City, Henan Province, irrigation drones played an important role in the cultivation of wheat. Wheat has a long growth cycle and requires multiple irrigations. Traditional irrigation methods are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also yield unsatisfactory results. In contrast, irrigation drones can quickly complete irrigation tasks, ensuring adequate water supply for wheat. Changge City fully leverages technological support, promoting the use of advanced agricultural machinery, such as GPS-guided self-propelled sprayers and plant protection drones, to achieve precise seeding and pest and disease control, as well as irrigation.
Fertilization Drones: Precise Fertilization, Reducing Waste
Fertilization is an important part of agricultural production, but traditional manual fertilization methods often suffer from uneven distribution and severe waste. Fertilization drones, equipped with fertilization devices, utilize the high-altitude perspective and precise positioning capabilities of drones to provide comprehensive coverage and even fertilization of farmland. During the fertilization process, drones can fly automatically according to preset routes and perform fertilization operations through remote control or automatic control systems.
According to Harbin News Network, recently, Northeast Agricultural University held a field yield observation meeting for rice drone variable topdressing nutrient-efficient management technology in Fangzheng County. The expert group conducted on-site yield measurements in the fields. The results showed that using drone variable topdressing precise nutrient management technology can save more than 10% of fertilizer and increase the yield of high-quality rice by more than 5%. The application of new types of fertilizers can reduce the number of fertilization times, and variable topdressing achieves precise application of nitrogen fertilizer, achieving the goal of saving costs and increasing efficiency.
Pesticide Drones: Efficient Spraying, Reducing Pollution
In the prevention and control of crop diseases and pests, drones also show strong capabilities. Pesticide drones, with advanced flight control systems and precise route planning, can quickly and evenly spray pesticides over large areas of farmland in a short time. Compared to traditional manual spraying or ground machinery spraying, drone spraying is more efficient, significantly reducing working time and labor costs.
According to the news, in the core demonstration area of the 2024 pesticide and fertilizer reduction and efficiency enhancement subsidy project in Changjiang, Hainan Province, technicians from the County Modern Agricultural Development Service Center poured the prepared pesticides and organic fertilizers into the drone's water tank and operated the drone for aerial pest control operations. A mist of "medicine" was seen spraying from the bottom of the drone, evenly falling on the mango tree leaves, bringing a "timely rain" for the prevention and control of diseases and pests in mango trees.It is understood that the core demonstration area has 100 acres of mango plantations. Using manual pesticide spraying requires nearly 9,000 pounds of pesticides, and it takes six people a full day to complete the task. After adopting drone spraying, the amount of pesticide used is only one-tenth of the traditional manual spraying, and the time is reduced to 1.5 hours.
Agricultural Inspection Drones: Full-time Monitoring, Intelligent Early Warning
Agricultural inspection drones have excellent flight performance and endurance, capable of conducting long-duration flight monitoring over farmland. Equipped with high-definition cameras and sensors, they can capture real-time images and data of the fields, providing farmers with all-weather, comprehensive field information. Through the aerial perspective of the drone, farmers can clearly see the overall layout of the farmland and the growth of crops, and can promptly identify issues in the fields, such as pests and diseases, drought, and waterlogging.
Agricultural inspection drones, equipped with artificial intelligence technology and data analysis algorithms, can intelligently analyze and process the collected farmland data. Once any anomalies in the farmland are detected, such as pest outbreaks or slow crop growth, the drone can immediately send early warning messages to farmers, reminding them to take timely measures for prevention and adjustment. This intelligent early warning system can help farmers detect potential problems in advance, reduce losses, and improve agricultural production efficiency.
Agricultural inspection drones are equipped with high-precision sensors and image recognition algorithms, enabling accurate detection of the farmland environment. With devices such as spectral sensors and nitrogen sensors carried by the drone, spectral analysis and nitrogen content analysis of crops can be conducted, achieving precise fertilization and irrigation management of the farmland. In addition, the drone can also use devices such as infrared sensors to monitor pests and diseases in the farmland, promptly identifying the existence and spread of pests and diseases, providing a basis for farmers to formulate precise prevention and control plans.