As bee populations decline, scientists and farmers are looking for a solution that will help with pollination. Recently, a New York tech firm assisted the agricultural industry in a major way. They helped a local apple farm in Lafayette pollinate 300 acres of crops.

They got help from a startup company called Dropcopter which used drones to successfully pollinate their crops. This was the very first apple orchard pollination done by drones. The company’s CTO, Adam Fine, stated in an interview that the company has been pollinating almond orchards using drones since 2015. He also explained that they currently have a device that is pending patent approval, which can accurately distribute a certain amount of pollen every time it takes flight.

This new drone will fly on automatic missions to quickly pollinate plants. The company is the first to test automated aerial pollination in the United States. Although aerial pollination is not the only alternative way in pollinating plants, it may just be the most effective method available. Other methods such as large tractor mounted sprayers, or leaf blowers were not that effective.

With Dropcopter’s drones, the pollination process can cover 40 acres of land in just one our. This doubles the pollination process when it is done around the clock, especially since bees don’t fly at night. At the moment, the company is looking for investors to help improve its drones and to better serve the industry with new equipment.

Farmers around the world rely on insect pollination, but in the last 25 years, the world has seen a drastic drop in bees and other insects. This is a scary figure because 80% of all species of animals on earth are insects and many of them are pollinators. The use of drones will help to alleviate the drop in bee population to keep the crops growing. The drones created by Dropcopter can serve as a useful addition to farmers globally in order to keep up with the growing population and demand for food.

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