Farming Taking To The Sky With Drone Technology

Farming has recently undergone a transformation thanks to modern technology. Hand-tilling, planting, and harvesting of crops were once commonplace practices. Now, farmers have given our fly-high friends additional responsibilities on their property.

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have brought a fresh approach to agriculture. AI-powered drones have the ability to fly over fields collecting data on crops and plant health and giving farmers an informed insight into the effectiveness of their farming practices.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think and learn like humans. 

Crop Monitoring

Drones soar through the air taking high-resolution pictures of crops. The images provide farmers with a detailed view of their crops and field that they wouldn't usually have. Well, not unless they have frequent access to a helicopter.

The drones can detect problems that may not be visible to the naked eye, for example, nutrient deficiencies and pest infestations. Farmers can then take action before it is too late.

How do drones generate the images?

A combination of cameras and sensors mounted on the board of the drone cameras can capture images of the crops from various angles and altitudes.

The 2 main types of cameras for crop monitoring are:

• RGB (red, green, blue) capture visible light images to assess crop health and identify problems.

• Multispectral or hyperspectral cameras can detect more subtle differences, such as variations in chlorophyll content (in plants indicates overall health) or water stress.

How are problems identified?

Drones fly over farmland and capture high-resolution images using computer vision algorithms and machine learning techniques to identify and classify objects. Objects are then classed based on color, size, shape, and texture.

Then for the most important part. The images and data are then analyzed, providing insight into the health of crops and any pests and diseases that may be present.

A report generated from the findings can then be used to make various adjustments to the land. For example, if there is a breakout of pests, then farmers may choose to bring in exterminators or spray pesticides.

Precision Farming

Precision farming is the practice of using drones to accurately map farms in 3D, which is done by gathering data on things like crop health, soil moisture, and vegetation index.

Through analysis of farm data, AI-powered software can distinguish between farm regions that are healthy and performing well and those that are not.

A 3D map is then generated based on this information, allowing the farmer to identify areas of the land that need more or fewer nutrients, fertilizer, water, or whatever it may be.

The use of drones is incredibly effective as it enables farmers to attend to the unique requirements of each region of farmland, which could be thousands of acres in size.

Livestock Monitoring

Drones also aid in the monitoring of farm livestock, cows and sheep are all on the menu. Drones fly overhead providing farmers with real-time footage of their animals. Traditionally farmers would walk through the barns and pastures checking on the livestock's well-being and performing livestock counts.

AI-powered drones provide farmers with real-time footage which they can use to check on livestock health and perform livestock counts from their devices.

This is particularly useful on land stretching acres, where covering distance can take a whole day. If an animal is spotted on drone footage not moving as much as usual, the farmer can then further investigate.

Crop Spraying

During this process, agricultural drones are fully equipped with tanks and sprayers for applying pesticides and fertilizers to crops. Tanks are fitted and crops are sprayed! Drones fly above the field spraying away.

AI algorithms allow the tanks and sprayers on the drones to release very specific amounts in the areas they are needed, based on data generated by the AI software from the drone's sensors, the drone's tank and sprayers are programmed to release specific amounts of inputs to each crop.

It minimizes the risk of over-spraying or under-spraying, which can damage crops and farmland, and also improves the overall efficiency of the farm ensuring nothing is wasted.

Wrap Up

Farming from the sky has absolutely transformed farming practices, and given the farmer a view that allows them to pay attention to details that in years past may have gone unnoticed. Artificial Intelligence has automated processes that wo