Page 35 - A U4SSC deliverable - Accelerating city transformation using frontier technologies

1 Field analysis: Drones can be used to improve soil and field analysis. They can capture data on the entire
farm field in a single take off and produce 3-D maps for soil and field analysis which is crucial for crop rota-
tion and determining the best seed planting patterns. Soil analysis also provides the necessary data for
nitrogen management and irrigation.
2 Sowing and plantation: Drones can help in planting seeds over a large field within a short period of time.
They carry pods with seeds and nutrients for soils and shoot them across a farm field with minimal human
intervention, optimising the process of seed planting. Drone planting systems can achieve an uptake rate of
75 per cent and decrease plant cost by 85 per cent.
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3 Spraying and irrigation: Drones can scan their surroundings and spray water, chemicals and other liquids
from the air to the ground with extreme precision, substantially increasing the efficiency of the farming
process and reducing the amount of wasted water or unnecessary chemicals that would otherwise go
into the soil. It is estimated that aerial spraying is about five times faster with drones than with traditional
machinery.
4 Monitoring: Drones can monitor weather and crop condition in a more reliable manner. In contrast to sat-
ellite imagery – which is costly, less flexible and less responsive due to the fact that usually only one image
can be taken per day and that it has to be ordered in advance and could suffer in terms quality from poor
weather – drones can offer precise imagery on crop condition, extreme weather patterns and other crucial
information more frequently, at a lower cost and with better-quality data. It is estimated that drone moni-
toring could improve crop yields by 10 per cent.
5 Parameter evaluation: Drones with special equipment, such as infrared and thermal sensors, can provide
snapshots of an entire crop field and detect dry fields that need irrigation. With agriculture accounting for

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