Source: Huanqiu.com
Today's spring ploughing preparation is more scientific and technological, judging from the news, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, and Heilongjiang ...... Many places across the country not only widely use plant protection drones to spray pesticides and fertilizers, but also use multispectral drones to "prescribe" farmland.
Do "CT" for farmland to help reduce costs and increase efficiency
Multispectral cameras can "see" a wider spectral range, in addition to visible light, they can also recognize infrared light and ultraviolet light, and then can perceive many information that is not visible to the naked eye. Multispectral camera + drone can quickly scan a large area of farmland, perceive important information such as nitrogen content, chlorophyll content and moisture content of related parts, and then analyze the growth trend, which is often described as "CT for farmland". Zhang Ruirui, director of the Aviation Application Technology Department of the National Agricultural Intelligent Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center, said that multispectral cameras can have better monitoring effects on plant photosynthesis, surface temperature distribution, and surface soil moisture. Multispectral is also an effective means of real-time monitoring of pests and diseases, and can be combined with other means to better grasp the distribution of pests and diseases.
Picture: Hubei Jingmen used drones to "prescribe" rape fields Source: CCTV
These scientific data can support accurate decision-making in farming, especially in the event of a disaster. At the beginning of this year, some areas encountered rain, snow and freezing weather, and Hubei Jingmen and other places immediately dispatched multispectral drones to capture the growth differences of crops, judge the health status, and generate agricultural "prescription maps" to effectively guide agricultural drones to accurately apply fertilizer and carry out more accurate "treatment".
In normal times, relying on multispectral technology for precise fertilization can also greatly save the amount of fertilizer. Professor He Xiongkui, dean of the Institute of Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Systems at China Agricultural University, also said that the use of multispectral technology to obtain pest and disease information can also be used to spray pesticides more accurately.
Equal rights in science and technology, from early adopters to common use
Pictured: DJI Mavic 3M drone
Although multispectral drones are not new, they have only gone from early adopters to common use in the last one or two years. A black dragon plant protection pilot said that in the past, the price of multispectral drones was very expensive, with a price of more than 100,000 yuan, few functions, and low efficiency, so few people used them. It wasn't until 2019 that the cost-effective DJI Phantom 4 multispectral version came out, allowing this technology to begin to land. At the end of 2022, the DJI Mavic 3 multispectral version of the drone came out, this model is more cost-effective, and the endurance, image transmission ability, and ease of use have been greatly improved. Now, in addition to some government departments will use multispectral drones for agricultural survey and monitoring, many large agricultural reclamation groups and plantations will also use this technology.
Figure: Variable precision fertilization
Judging from public reports, in the past two years, Beidahuang Group, Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation Group, Tianjin Food Group, etc. have used multispectral drones, and some agricultural reclamation groups have also organized large-scale relevant training to promote the technology to various branches. Using multispectral drones to accurately patrol the field to monitor crop growth, diseases, insects and weeds is faster and more accurate than manual inspection, and fertilization relying on these data variables can also ensure the balanced supply of nutrients in farmland and improve the efficiency of chemical fertilizer. The plant protection pilot said that after using multispectral drones, ordinary fields can save 20% of chemical fertilizers when they are good, and even half of them in extreme cases, and tens of thousands of yuan can be saved per 100 acres of farmland, which can save a lot of money for large-scale farming. DJI's agricultural engineer Zhong Ying also introduced that manual labor can only patrol about 200 acres of fields a day, and it is very hard, while multispectral drones can easily cover 3,000 acres of fields in one sortie.
When will large-scale cultivation benefit smallholder farmers?
But at present, smallholder farmers rarely use multispectral drones. Many plant protection pilots believe that small-scale growers can save limited money, but it takes tens of thousands of yuan to purchase a piece of equipment, which is not cost-effective from the cost point of view. Moreover, ordinary users are not sure how to spray the medicine after having a farmland "prescription map", and there are still many doubts. Director Zhang Ruirui also said that at this stage, it is not possible to publicize the precise application of pesticides in response to pests and diseases, because the appearance of pests and diseases in local plots indicates that there is a potential risk of pests and diseases in the place, and it is still necessary to comprehensively prevent and control them. More scientific research is needed for precision pesticide application technology in variable regions.
In the Shihezi cotton planting area of Xinjiang, DJI M3M multi-spectral agricultural drones generate variable control prescriptions for cotton, and cotton production has increased year by year, with an increase of more than 200 yuan per mu
However, Director Zhang Ruirui also believes that multispectral drones will play more roles in agriculture, and they are very practical in supporting accurate decision-making in agriculture and guiding agricultural machinery operations at this stage, and will play an increasingly important role in the future. Professor He Xiongkui also said that this technology can solve practical problems in the front line, and will soon serve ordinary farmers.
Pictured: The DJI M3M multispectral drone is combined with the DJI Agricultural Service and DJI Agricultural Drone platform
And how can this technology be made accessible to smallholder farmers? The industry is optimistic about the service model. Professor Ho Xiongkui said that instead of buying a multispectral drone, farmers can buy "farmland CT" services from agricultural service companies. Zhong Ying said that now many flying plant protection teams and agricultural suppliers have begun to provide multispectral drone inspection services, and the cost per mu is very low, and the price of small farmers buying services according to the number of mu is also very low. Some plant protection teams are also happy to provide such value-added services, because it can not only increase revenue, but also increase the yield per mu of service objects, and thus improve customer stickiness.