Know about the use of drones in agriculture for monitoring the environment of the field and enhance the quantity and quality crop

Satellite imagery has been used for many years to help large broadacre farmers manage their fields and the health of their crops. But for the small-scale agriculture fields like orchards and vineyards, the resolution in the imagery just isn't detailed enough. This is where our research comes in.

I originally became interested in the drones as a hobbyist and enthusiast. I used to build drones on my own and crashed them a lot of times. And at some point, I realized the potential of this versatile platform as a way to monitor environments. Collecting water stress data using a traditional handheld device is very time-consuming. Flying sensors totally changes the equation. We can cover a much larger area in a fraction of the time.

The drone-based monitoring we have developed allowed us to provide very detailed readings of water stress over an entire vineyard, just within an hour. We found that water stress level can greatly fluctuate within a small area. Experienced grape growers control the quality of grapes by controlling water stress. Our research will enable not only improved yield and save water, but also it will improve the taste of the wines.

Drone-based monitoring and smarter farming can help farmers increase the quantity and quality of produce, save money for fertilizer and water, increase profit, and lower the environmental footprint.