Introduction
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
Distant water points and livestock are obvious things that require checking up on, and how better to do it than sending an unmanned aircraft (during the day or night) to confirm that all is in order. Useful applications of drones in agriculture revolve around:
- surveillance of livestock, vehicles etc
- damage and infrastructure inspection
- mapping the layout of lands (3D maps)
- spraying a crop (with pinpoint accuracy)
- a useful contribution to precision farming: to monitor things like crop health, determining nutrient needs of plants, fertiliser runoff, and how efficiently water is being used. Indeed, the evidence as presented in one role player’s website suggests that the quality of data from the drone surpasses that of satellites.
General concerns about UAVs centre around the potential misuse of these appliances: the loss of privacy and other security concerns.
Farmers will need to do their own sums about the value UAVs give to their operations. Consider:
- What additional information will be provided?
- What operations are performed more effectively by UAVs?
- Where will their use free up time on the farm for other task?
African business environment
In Africa, the major challenge to using drones in agriculture are the regulations governing their usage. These regulations are generally controlled by military and civil aviation authorities due to the sensitive nature of airspaces where UAVs operate. Currently only seven countries in Africa have regulations regarding drones. These include Cote d’ Ivoire, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana. In fact, the regulations in Kenya prohibit the use of the UAVs.
Source: “Future of drones in agriculture dependent on enactment of regulations”, an article in SACAU October 2016 newsletter.
National strategy and government contact
- Members of CUAASA (see under next heading) can find relevant legislation on www.cuaasa.org.
- Find the page on drone laws [regulations as stipulated by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)] at www.dronedeals.co.za/south-african-drone-laws-7-most-important-rules/
- “Regulatory requirements for the use of drones for aerial application of agricultural remedies” can be read at https://croplife.co.za/regulatory-requirements-for-the-use-of-drones-for-aerial-application-of-agricultural-remedies/.
- Department of Transport www.transport.gov.za
Role players
Original Agricultural Business Systems (OABS) – https://oabs.co.za Agricultural drone services with the use of photogrammetry
Websites and publications
- View the websites listed earlier e.g. the drone laws at www.dronedeals.co.za/south-african-drone-laws-7-most-important-rules/
- Find the articles on drones in agriculture at http://aerialfarmer.blogspot.co.za/
- Watch the video on a drone on a South African farm at http://landbou.com/videos/boer-spaar-baie-tyd-met-hommeltuig/
- A paper Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): the basics can be downloaded at http://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/media/11424/UAV%20paper%20web%20ready.pdf
- Find videos on Youtube like “From Drone to tractor – How using a precision farming UAV can improve crop management”, “Drones and the future of farming” (National Geographic), “Die Hommeltuig (RSG)”, “Landbou span hommeltuig” etc.
- Find the World Economic Forum (WEF)‘s Insight Report “Advanced Drone Operations Toolkit: Accelerating the Drone Revolution” at www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Advanced_Drone_Operations_Toolkit.pdf. It “provides a modular approach for governments to enable societally important and safe drone projects”.
- Explore 14 different applications with “The Ultimate Guide to Using Multispectral Imagery in Ag” at www.micasense.com/drones-in-ag.
Some articles
- Reporter. 2024, August 8. “Drones are revolutionising SA Industries from farms to healthcare”. IOL. Available at www.iol.co.za/technology/drones-are-revolutionising-sa-industries-from-farms-to-healthcare-00c6fb7b-4712-46b7-a35b-bb901dc2deef
- Staff Writer. 2024, July 7. “‘Precision farming’ drones take off in South Africa”. BusinessTech. Available at https://businesstech.co.za/news/technology/780454/precision-farming-drones-take-off-in-south-africa/
- Kruger C. 2022, April 26. “Algoritmes ontwikkel om te keer dat hommeltuie bots” [Algorithms developed to prevent drone collisions]. Landbouweekblad. Available at www.landbou.com/landbou/bedrywe/tegnologie/algoritmes-ontwikkel-om-te-keer-dat-hommeltuie-bots-20220425
- Smith G-L. 2021, March 30. “WC farmers get boost after drone project added to Agri Dept’s budget”. Eye Witness News. Available at https://ewn.co.za/2021/03/30/wc-farmers-get-boost-after-drone-project-added-to-agri-dept-s-budget
- Prescott K. & Treanor S. 2020, April 7. “Drones in Africa: How they could become lifesavers”. BBC News. Available at www.bbc.com/news/business-51837296
- Reynolds E. 2019, October 18. “How technology is helping African farms to flourish”. CNN Business. Available at https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/18/business/smart-farming-africa-tech-intl/index.html
- Agri SA. 2019, May. “Agri SA and Aerobotics partner to offer free service for all South African farmers”. Agri-Beat. Available at www.agrisa.co.za/pressReleases/72080dc429cdf10579d2f810a8555783
- Fourie, L. 2019, April 12. “Opinion: Beware of the eye in the sky”. Business Report. Available at www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/opinion-beware-of-the-eye-in-the-sky-21013277
- Gouws, A. 2019, March 1. “Regulasies knip hommeltuie se vlerke”. Agriorbit. Available at www.agriorbit.com/regulasies-knip-hommeltuie-se-vlerke/ [regulations clip the wings of drones]
- Van Rooyen, C. 2019, February 8. “’n Toekoms waarin hommeltuie nie net vlieg nie”. Landbouweekblad. Available at www.netwerk24.com/landbou/Bedrywe/Tegnologie/n-toekoms-waarin-hommeltuie-nie-net-vlieg-nie-20190206 [A future in which drones don’t only fly]
- Uys, G. 2018, August 22. “Drone technology maximises macadamia production”. Farmer’s Weekly. Available at www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-technology/farming-for-tomorrow/eye-sky-maximises-macadamia-production/
- Naidoo, P. 2018, July 7. “Nedbank bets on drones reshaping agri finance”. The Citizen. Available at https://citizen.co.za/business/1979585/nedbank-bets-on-drones-reshaping-agri-finance/
- Wolf, H. 2018, July 3. “We must regulate drones to democratise the sky for humanity”. Eye Witness News (courtesy of World Economic Forum). Available at http://ewn.co.za/2018/07/03/analysis-we-must-regulate-drones-to-democratize-the-sky-for-humanity
- Pedroncelli, P. 2017, September 6. “10 Ways In Which Drones Are Positively Impacting Industries Across Africa”. AFK Insider. Available at http://afkinsider.com/140633/10-ways-in-which-drones-are-positively-impacting-industries-across-africa
- Slater, D. 2017, September 22. “Building the safety case for operating drones beyond visual line of sight”. Engineering News. Available at www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/building-the-safety-case-for-operating-drones-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-2017-09-22
