Agriculture

After a particularly hectic launch season with three back-to-back product releases, you may think DJI is done for 2021. But the technology giant has just unveiled two new drones in its home country of China: the DJI Agras T40 and T20P.

XAG, one of the top three commercial drone manufacturers of 2021, is expanding its international footprint to new markets. Up to December 2020, the company’s agricultural drones and farming solutions had reached 42 countries. Now, China-based XAG is making its V40 and P40 agricultural drones available for purchase across the globe.

MicaSense, a specialist in multispectral drone sensors, has released a new product to deliver highly accurate results at leaf-level resolution. The MicaSense Altum-PT three-in-one drone camera can capture synchronized multispectral, thermal, and panchromatic data for advanced remote sensing and agricultural research.

MicaSense has launched the next generation of its flagship multispectral drone sensor, RedEdge-P. Offering three times the capture speed and twice the spatial resolution of its predecessor, the RedEdge-MX, MicaSense’s new sensor packs in a higher resolution, panchromatic band to deliver a pan-sharpened output resolution of 2 cm when flying at 60 m.

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) have been widely used to treat agricultural crops throughout the world, and spray against disease-carrying pests like mosquitos. Now researchers are expanding trial use of drones to control harmful insects by dropping enemy species on them.

DJI’s agricultural drones, Agras T30 and T10, which were released in China late last year, are now available for purchase in more than 100 countries internationally. In the meantime, DJI has already sold more than 50,000 Agras units across the world this year alone during a phased launch.

Bees are among the most hardworking creatures on the planet. But in many parts of the world, honeybee colonies are declining so quickly that even the United Nations is worried. About two-thirds of the crops that feed the world rely on pollination by bees and other insects. Without them, we’d be looking at an agricultural doomsday scenario. And this is exactly what a University of Maryland professor wants to avoid – with the help of an army of tiny drones.

Tech disruption? More like révolution! Tests currently underway using mildew-battling agents seek legal changes allowing drones to spray wine-producing grapes in France’s cherished vineyards.

A leading Kenyan non-governmental organization has teamed up with a group that uses drone and robotics for public benefit in a reforestation effort to turn back one region’s steady environmental decline. Their goal: prepare and plant indigenous trees that have vanished across 2,250 acres of decimated countryside.

A Swiss research group has developed a drone-carried sensor that can detect the water content of terrain below, and are offering it as a cheaper and more accurate measurement supplement to existing technology like satellite imagery. Its creators say the device can optimize a variety of terrain management decisions in a world where drought and fires are becoming a major, recurring problem.

Drones are increasingly flying faster, farther, and for longer periods of time while performing a broader array of tasks. Now they are poised to take on a tiny problem that often leads to enormous damage: plant-destroying inspects.

Tech innovator and startup founder Patrick Maletz thinks he has found a way to dramatically extend drone flights. Rather than trying to withstand winds with that craft often battle, his drones use the power of those gusts to stay aloft.

Everyone loves animals – especially the younger critters. But a Belgian nonprofit association may be taking the term “drones for good” to a new level by flying missions to prevent deer fawns from being hacked into bits.

Drones have earned richly deserved plaudits for accomplishing a wide variety of difficult, even crucial human tasks using their onboard tech. Now they’re winning praise for rendering the champion of utter drudgery obsolete: ridding land of weeds.

A modified drone design is about to make the hard, dangerous work of harvesting coconuts a whole lot easier. At least for those who actually pick the delicious one-seeded drupes for a living.

It may look harmless, or even peaceful, at first. But Sosnowsky’s hogweed is a demon in disguise. So now, drones are being called on to solve one of the most complex detection problems faced by agriculturists in Russia.

Canada-based agritech startup Precision AI has raised seed funding of $20 million to help the agriculture industry reduce its chemical footprint. Its solution? Deploying swarms of artificially intelligent drones to bring down the use of herbicides in agriculture dramatically.

A very newcomer in the world of agriculture drones, Guardian Agriculture has launched with $10.5 million in funding from some of the world’s largest agribusiness leaders. The company officially announced its launch yesterday and plans to bring digital farming to the United States with US-built drones.

The NAAA (National Agricultural Aviation Association) asks that all drone pilots be extra mindful of low-flying agricultural aircraft as the industry continues to struggle on the back of the pandemic, making any delay a much bigger issue than it would have been pre-pandemic.

Agriculture spraying drones in the UK are currently being held back by outdated rules and regulations. As a result of this, investment into the sector is also severely limited, holding back advancements and major benefits.

Israeli-based company Tevel Technologies uses AI-driven drones to pick fruit from trees as the pandemic is shutting down farms worldwide and leaving the fruit to rot. The drones are allowing farmers to speed up the picking process and ensure all ripe fruit is picked.