New drones to be acquired for agriculture

By Azernews

By Leman Mammadova

As one of the biggest technology and innovation consumers in the world, agriculture is one of the most promising areas of application of drones.

Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture will spend more than 330,000 manats to purchase drones, the Ministry told local media.

The ministry signed a corresponding contract with Idrak Texnology Transfer LLC for the purchase of drones.

The number of acquired drones is not specified. Regarding the specification of the purchased equipment, drones should be equipped with a sprayer, video surveillance mode and the necessary ports and software for transferring captured files to other equipment.

As for features of these devices, the sprayer must have a minimum equivalent capacity of 10-11 liters and a minimum of 23 kg, and be capable of transporting and spraying any kind of fertilizer, herbicides, minerals and chemicals.

Moreover, taking into account that drones allow to create a cartographic base with the exact coordinates of all objects, they should be capable to work with navigation systems GPS + GLOSNASS and RTK (Real Time Kinematics). The distance between the control point of the drone and the territory of its operation should not be less than 4 km. It is vital during the calculation of exact area, distance, resource requirements, etc.

Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) managing with various degrees of autonomy, originated mostly in military applications, although their use is expanding in commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural and other spheres.

As for agriculture, drones can be effectively used for planning and controlling the stages of agricultural production, as well as for chemical processing of crops and other plants. The main criterion for the introduction of drones is the economic feasibility. Drones allow to receive relevant and effective information when it is needed; in addition, the information accumulated over a long period allows to analyze the processes in dynamics.

Moreover, drones are capable of collecting planting information sufficient for accurate use of pesticides and herbicides where chemicals are needed. This promises farmers the opportunity to save on the use of chemicals, and also protects the environment.