The use of drone technology in agriculture is critical in addressing one of the industry’s biggest challenges: producing enough food to feed a growing population on a fixed amount of land, says Thulani Magida, agricultural economist and founder of Juta Agritech.
Drone technologies are exciting and efficient innovations that fall under precision agriculture, particularly in South Africa, where there is a growing urgency to adopt sustainable practices while meeting the need to produce food efficiently.
Magida says this technology is part of a broader trend in agriculture which shows consistent growth since 1994, largely due to the adoption of new technologies such as improved seed varieties and advanced chemicals.
“So, technology has always played a part in growing the sector so that we can grow enough food to feed this growing population.”
Magida highlights the growing importance of drones in agriculture. Drones contribute to efficiency by enabling more effective fertilisation and spraying, thus helping farmers produce more food from the same land.
“Drones are also just part of that efficiency because they have quite a number of applications. You can spread fertiliser more effectively, you can spray more effectively than you used to, and it is even more cost-effective,” he says.
Benefits of using drone technology
Magida emphasises the importance of responsible farming, particularly concerning environmental and financial sustainability. Drone technology can support sustainable agriculture in many ways by reducing the amount of chemicals and inorganic fertilisers used on crops.
“With drones, a farmer can do variable rate application which puts fewer chemicals and inorganic fertilisers on the soil. This also saves costs both environmentally and financially. You’re putting less of the bad stuff on the soil and you are also saving costs.”
Drones also require less water compared to traditional ground applications, thereby addressing water scarcity concerns in South Africa. Additionally, Magida notes that drones help reduce CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for fuel-powered machinery like tractors.
“I mean, with a drone, you can apply the same amount of chemicals using 50 litres a hectare compared to the ground application, which is a boom sprayer that needs about 400 litres a hectare, even more so with the aerial application. So, you can see it’s also saving in terms of water, and water has been the biggest concern in South Africa and agriculture in recent years.”
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Types of drones
Magida explains that in South Africa, DJI and XAG drones are widely used, particularly DJI drones which offer various applications in agriculture.
Cinematic drones: Magida explains that these are used for aerial videos and photos to provide an overall view of the farm.
“You can use them to check your germination, to check your crop lodging, to check your wind pressure, etc. [It is] basically just the use of the camera to check these things from the sky and be able to see the overall picture of what’s happening on the ground.”
Multispectral drones: These drones provide detailed information about crop health, allowing farmers to detect issues before they become visible to the naked eye, explains Magida.
“Multispectral drones provide information about crop health before the damage can be severe or before we can even see that damage with the naked eye. It gives a farmer an advantage to start putting proactive plans in place.”
Spray drones: According to Magida, these are large drones used for applying fertilisers and chemicals, based on data gathered by other drones.
“The information that you gather from the smaller drones, which is the multispectral, is loaded onto the spray drones. The spray drone can target the areas that are severely affected and put more chemicals or more fertiliser on the areas that are not severely affected, where it would need a little bit of fertiliser.”
Licensing and training
Stringent training and licensing requirements are in place to operate drones, particularly in the agricultural sector. Magida notes that operating a drone is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
“It can cause quite significant harm – from an individual to a group of people – because if you fly a drone in a control zone, like closer to an airport, and then you collide with a landing plane, that can be catastrophic. Those are the things that are really serious. So, that’s why drone licensing is sanctioned by the CAA.”
To operate drones legally, a business must have a remote operating certificate (ROC) which costs around R150 000 and takes 12 to 24 months to obtain. Magida stresses that this certificate is required whether the drones are used on one’s own farm or for providing services to others.
In addition, individual drone operators must obtain a remote pilot licence (RPL).
“I’ve gone through the training for the RPL, and it also takes about three to four months to obtain it. It’s another licence that you need, renewable every two years, so it’s a serious issue,” he says.
Bridging the gap
Magida notes that drone technology can be especially beneficial for new-era farmers, helping to bridge the gap between them and more established commercial farmers.
The primary challenge is the high cost of purchasing and licensing drones, which can be a barrier for small-scale farmers and businesses. He points out that many funding institutions and government bodies are not yet fully aware of the benefits of drone technology, making it difficult to secure financial support for such innovations.
Magida is particularly excited about the potential of drone technology to make agriculture more appealing to young people.
“Drone technology is one thing that can make agriculture cool. We have a lot of unemployed graduates whose perspective on agriculture is about working in the field, and that’s not exciting. But to fly a drone is just exciting in itself.”
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