WATCH: Crop Spraying with Drones: Opportunities & Challenges

It is not news that drones are now frequently used in the agricultural space to boost farmers' productivity through timely data collection for improved crop yields. Beyond aerial data, drones directly provide active operational support to farmers in areas such as pesticide and fertilizer spraying to distribute chemicals equally and accurately. 

This is why Tawanda of Zimbabwe Flying Labs and Aboubacar from Cote d'Ivoire Flying Labs organized a knowledge-sharing webinar with a strong focus on crop-spraying drones, their benefits, and their challenges. This event aimed to bring awareness to the use of drones for spraying, and various use cases, with the hope that more people in the Global South accelerate their skills to support farmers in achieving higher crop yields.

Tawanda's work with drones covers many areas, but in the last two years, his team has focused on bringing education, awareness, and training to Zimbabweans through tailored drone training. They chose this approach because it is a significant gap in the Global South and hinders the adoption of drones as an effective tool in solving social challenges.

Tawanda has been involved in several drone spraying projects, spurred by his involvement in curbing the spread of COVID-19 during the global pandemic. His team used drones for disinfectant spray activities in specific crowded areas to curb the spread of the virus. 

Since 2020, Tawanda and his team have supported many farmers through their work. They have also been lobbying for crop spraying drones to be classified as agricultural equipment by the Ministry of Agriculture to increase adoption by local stakeholders and enable the drone ecosystem in Zimbabwe.

"The technology itself is brilliant, amazing, efficient; however, it is important to understand that drones need to be handled professionally by trained individuals taking into account compliance and safety regulations."

Aboubacar's presentation focused on the operational needs of using drones to spray large farm fields such as cotton and bananas. On average, trained professionals can use drones to spray seven-to-ten hectares per hour and a maximum of 40 hectares per day per drone. However, the team found that drones perform better and faster when the liquid content is lower. 

Beyond cotton spraying, Cote d'Ivoire Flying Labs have also used drones in the aerial mapping of cultivated areas, identification of less fertile areas, and evaluation of the health of the plants. In the last two years, Aboubacar and his team have sprayed and treated over 40,000 hectares of plantations such as banana, sugarcane, and cotton, offered several interventions in research and development, partnering with renowned agricultural organizations and research bodies.

According to the speakers, compared to traditional spraying, some of the benefits they have seen with drones for spraying include time-saving and the ability to carry out work that typically takes 10 hours in less than one. Other benefits include its affordability and easy application of fertilizers, quick deployment, precision spraying, efficient resource management, and health and safety of human resources because the operator is not in direct contact with the plants and chemicals. For example, in cotton spraying, a drone has a daily treatment capacity of 40 hectares per day, while a tractor would only cover 5 hectares per day.

"It is one thing to see drones deployed in South Africa, Nigeria, etc. It is another thing for an individual to understand what it would take to deploy said technology in their local context. We need to have context when looking at innovation with the understanding of what it would take to have an ecosystem that is friendly and conducive for said innovation."-Tawanda on contextual innovation approach.

While drones have improved work efficiency and accuracy in agriculture, they have their fair share of challenges that public and private can transform into opportunities. Some challenges include a need for more adoption on a broader scale and a change of mindset around using drones. In addition, limited knowledge of drones' use and applicability makes it particularly difficult to scale to a larger audience. Another challenge local experts face is the high cost of drone hardware and software, partly because the industry is, in many ways, still testing and advancing drone spraying technology. 

The speakers highlighted Africa's need for more experienced and well-established drone maintenance and repair hubs. Notwithstanding, the above challenges listed in many ways can be transformed into opportunities, enhancing the adoption of drones on a broader scale and improving global food security in the long term.