Farmers Using Drones to Rid Their Crops of Invasive Insects

Farmers around the world often have to deal with unpredictable elements.  Droughts and storms can lead to low productions, but fortunately most farmers have learned how to prepare and accommodate accordingly for weather.  One of the biggest issues all farmers face is crop loss from invasive pests.  Farmers expect to always lose some of their crop to insects, but certain insects can lead to a total devastation on a farm.

One such insect is the fall armyworm, the larval stage of the fall armyworm moth.  The fast moving armyworm can travel up to 100km a day.  They reproduce quickly and feast on over 80 varieties of crops quickly enough to wipe out an entire harvest, causing huge economic crisis.  The armyworm was first spotted in Africa and the Americas in 2016.  It has since spread to India and Asia.  Agriculturists and scientist have been trying to find ways to combat crop loss from armyworms since then.  It seems that in China the collaboration of two companies have found success in wiping them out.

Crop Science, a division of German based pharmaceutical and life science giant Bayer is “the third largest innovative agricultural input company in the world and has business in high-value seeds, crop protection, and non-agricultural pest control.”  They have spent years of research and resources finding ways to benefit farmers and the people they feed.  They have created a low-toxicity insecticide that can effectively kill off armyworms.  The problem is in how the insecticide is applied to crops.  Traditionally the crops would be sprayed manually by someone driving a tanker through the fields, or more likely walking with a tank on their backs, hand spraying as they go.  Not only is this not safe for a human to be doing, but it is often to slow of a process to be effective.

XAG, formerly known as Xaircraft, is a drone company founded by Bin Peng and Justin Gong in 2007 in Guangzhou, China.  At first they designed drones for commercial consumers.  After a visit to a cotton farm they were struck by the impracticality of how the farmers were treating their crops with a backpack tank of insecticide.  In 2013, they decided to start specializing in agricultural drones.  Now with close to 1,400 employees, XAG controls more than half of the agricultural drones throughout China.  According to their website, “XAG aims to provide global farmers with the best local solutions ranging from plant protection, crop monitoring and farm management.”

They have two types drones on the market.  Their X Mission drones are used for surveying and mapping, perfectly designed to work in farm environments.  Then there are the P Series drones that are used for crop protection.  They are quick and easy to use with just minimal training.  Finally they have their JetSeed Granule Spreading System, a light weight spreader that connects to a drone that can spread insecticide, fertilizer, and seeds.  The Plant Protection drones along with the JetSeed Granule Spreading System are able to completely treat crops at sunset, the best time for insecticide spreading.  They keep humans safe and are so effective that they have been able to treat crops with a 98% armyworm mortality.

With the science and technology available today, agricultural economic devastation can be kept to a minimum.  No longer do farmers need to struggle to keep up with pests when effective drones can successfully do the job.


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