Elevating Orchard Farming: Drones Transforming Crop Health and Efficiency
In the realm of orchard farming, precision and coverage is paramount in ensuring the health and productivity of crops like mangoes, avocados, and citrus. Traditional ground-based spraying methods often fall short, leading to uneven application and potential crop health issues. The solution to this age-old challenge lies in drone technology, which has revolutionized orchard crop management.
Drones have emerged as a game-changer in orchard agriculture, offering precise and efficient spraying capabilities. Beyond conventional chemical distribution, they excel in targeting specific areas using AI-guided algorithms. This enables a tree crown-specific spraying route that minimizes chemical waste in inter-rows and between trees, thereby enhancing coverage while reducing environmental impact.
In orchards, the utilisation of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) is a common practice among growers. NDVI, a remote sensing technique, aids in assessing crop health by measuring the difference between visible and near-infrared light reflected by vegetation. By interpreting NDVI data, growers gain valuable insights into the overall health of their orchards. This information enables them to make data-driven decisions regarding optimised spraying schedules, the timing and extent of spraying, nutrient managment, as well as other crucial aspects of orchard care.
At NQD our transformative role of drones in orchard farming, focuses on improved coverage, crop health, and overall practices. By harnessing drone technology and incorporating advanced AI capabilities, we are ensuring our clients gets the most out of their crops. Our commitment to advancing orchard farming is evident in the real-world applications and results we present, aligning with the agricultural industry’s need for innovation and precision ensuring a fruitful and efficient future for orchard growers.
A mango and avocado farm in Mutchilba, Far North Queensland.
Normalised Difference in Vegetation Index (NDVI) indicates areas of the crop that have poor health allowing farmers to put more care into these areas.
AI mapping capabilities enables spot spraying routes to be created to target tree crowns and minimise chemical waste in the inter rows and between trees as shown.
