Drones are spreading in Southeast Asian plantations.
Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that a growing number of farmers, combined with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), are turning to smart farming as they work for 500 human workers a day.
A representative example is a plantation in Southeast Asia that produces palm oil.
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The tropical region of Southeast Asia is an area of active plantation. On the other hand, the lush forest is famous for being difficult to recognize even if a fire breaks out. In fact, the total amount of oil palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia is 22.3 million hectares, which is about the size of the Korean peninsula. However, drones can be monitored twice a day even in places where humans are not easily accessible.
The possibility of drones for agriculture was confirmed in sales data. According to U.S. market research firm Allied Market Research, agricultural use accounts for more than a quarter of the total commercial drone sales of $ 2.67 billion in 2016. The demand for agricultural drones is expected to increase by about 22% per year, reaching $ 2.44 billion by 2022.
According to another market researcher, Shelbyville, global drone sales are expected to exceed $ 8 billion by 2026.
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Drones can find fires on large farms as well as collect data to determine whether water and nutrients are needed for their crops. You can also find leaks from irrigation systems. This is an important function that increases the efficiency of the palm oil industry.
"One drone can cover an image of 2500 hectares of oil palm a day, while a person covers only 5 hectares," said Wallace Tao, president of Hong Kong Insight Robotics. The company provides drone-based remote sensing technology and AI analysis technology to Southeast Asian palm planters.
"Many farms that use drones to collect data are already analyzing images using AI-based systems," said Tao. He added that images of 10,000 hectares of area can be reviewed on a computer in four hours. If people do, it takes 20 people to hang for more than two weeks.
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Drones are now producing safer and more reliable data in vast plantations with dangerous animals and pests. Tree images taken with high-resolution cameras can also monitor the health and pest damage of palm trees.
Smaller, more agile drones are put in hard-to-access areas. There are already farmers running several drones, and some farmers are using satellites for more precise mapping. This can be combined with the actual imagery information to obtain more accurate information, such as the likelihood of tree harvesting. In addition, remote sensors, robotic equipment, and autonomous vehicles are being used to deliver the correct amount of fertilizer to specific areas.