An agricultural drone can help farmers to monitor crop growth through its aerial view which will allow it to reveal many issues in the farm such as irrigation problems, soil variation and pest and fungal infestation.
It also helps to increase crop production through its capacity to carry and spray liquid fertilizers and pesticide for the control of pests and supplement crop nutritional requirements.
Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) is the trade name of SZ Technology Co., Ltd. or Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd.
It is a Chinese technology company located in Shenzhen, Guangdong with manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
The company produces commercial unmanned aerial vehicles or drones for aerial photography and videography, or other utility uses. DJI is Asia’s largest drone manufacturer.
One of its drone products is the MG-1P-DJI, a drone used in China nowadays as aerial spray and disinfection robot, but originally it was designed to spray pesticides in farms.
What It Can Do
MG-1P-DJI is a multi-rotor flying platform intended for agricultural applications in farmland, woodland, and orchards only. The drone is not suitable as a toy.
This spraying drone has the ability to revolutionize the way farmers manage and monitor crops. It brings new levels to the application of liquid pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. It can carry liters of liquid and is faster than manual spraying operations.
Specifications
Rotors: MG-1P-DJI is an octocopter drone for it has eight rotors which ensure the safety of its flight even if one arm or motor breaks.
Camera: MG-1P series drones transmit clear, front-facing live views for they are equipped with 123 FOV wide-angle cameras. Users can effortlessly monitor the drone’s direction with the help of First Person View (FPV camera), increasing their works’ efficiency.
Radar: The integration of the three high-precision terrain detection radars is present in MG-1P. It can detect nearly approaching power lines from up to 15m away. Through this, the aircraft can detect and avoid not only power lines, but also trees, branches and other obstacles which may hinder its flight. During the day or even at night, Active Obstacle Sensing and Avoidance works without being influenced dust.
Controller: A MG-1P controller is a multi-aircraft controller. It can control up to five MG-1P aircrafts simultaneously, making it efficient for single-pilot operations. 3 kilometers is the extent of the control range, and ensure a safe flight with the support of its high-resolution video transmission within that range. The controller is convenient for daily operations for it also supports 4G wireless communication, an interchangeable battery, and new antenna design.
Positioning: Even when the aircraft is flying near a high voltage power lines or in other complicated environments, it ensures a safe flight through the dual-antenna direction finding technology which gives strong resistance against electromagnetic interference.
Featured Highlights
The key features of Agras MG-1P Series Agriculture Drones are the following:
- 10L Spray Tank
- High-Precision Radar
- RTK Centimeter Level Positioning
- Active Obstacle Sensing and Avoidance
- 123 FOV Wide Angle FPV Camera
- Multi-Aircraft Control Mode
Pros and Cons of Using Agricultural Drones
Pros:
1] Agricultural drones used in monitoring vast fields are easier to deploy unlike the traditional aircraft.
2] With the use of agricultural drones, farmers can identify the problem areas in the farm early. Hence, farmers can avoid losses due to infestations, diseases, and poor irrigation.
3] Spraying pesticides and fertilizers using drones is easier and faster than the traditional methods. Their ability to scan and regulate their distance from the ground enables them to spray the correct amount of the desired liquid evenly.
4] Although purchasing agricultural drones demands a high start-up cost, they are good investments because doing aerial surveys on farms using manned aircraft will require more equipment and manpower, therefore, more expensive.
5] Some agricultural drones are capable of tracking crop health using visible and near infrared light.
Cons:
1] Agricultural drones require high initial cost of purchase or investment.
2] Generally, drones are subject to weather conditions. Unlike traditional aircraft, drones need more ideal weather conditions. If it is very windy or rainy outside, farmers may not be able to fly them.
3] The flight time of agricultural drones is limited by its battery capacity and the efficiency of their motors. They last for several minutes in the air and their batteries needed to be changed or charged to complete an aerial survey.
4] Using agricultural drones require a high level of skill or technological savvy not just in flying them, but also in gathering agricultural survey. Automated flight planning is done via mobile app or separate desktop software for many agricultural drones. This technological knowledge can seem overwhelming to old-school farmers.
5] Agricultural drones users must always be updated with the laws that govern the flight of drones.
Recommendation
There are complex factors that influence the success of farmers in agriculture like the presence of pests, climate change, soil quality, and more.
As a result, farmers should adapt to the use of modern technologies like the agricultural drones which will help to remedy these problems through a better management of crops which will increase the farmers’ profitability.
