Irina BERG
Increasingly, drones can be seen over Russian fields, busy collecting information about crops or processing them.
High-tech machines perform complex work, the result of which directly affects the qualitative and quantitative indicators productivity.
About the main advantages of drones working in agriculture economy, and the peculiarities of their use in our country told representatives of manufacturing companies techniques.
UNIQUE FUNCTIONAL
The leader in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is China, where the industry itself was born. Today, drones are widely used in various sectors of the economy, and each new generation of drones is capable of performing increasingly complex tasks.
Speaking about drones for agriculture, the head of the geodetic department of Rusgeocom LLC Anatoly Penyuta divided them into two main groups: units for photo and video filming and equipment for processing fields.
Sales Manager at Aimetro LLC (representative of DJI) Dmitry Kalinin said that the Russian market has advanced drones for analyzing the health status of crops, equipped with cameras for visual monitoring.
Such a multispectral drone forms a map of the entire field from individual images and displays areas, crops on which they have damage in various spectra, reveals irrigation and care deficiencies, and the presence of pests. After analyzing the compiled map, the agronomist can adjust the application rate of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and insecticides.
According to the General Director of GeosAero LLC Zakhara Zavyalova, farmers also demand the service of conducting a land audit for compiling digital maps of fields. An accurate understanding of the boundaries and areas of agricultural land allows you to determine the need for materials such as seeds, fertilizers, plant protection products.
With the help of a drone, an analysis of the terrain is carried out and, in addition to the usual map, a 3D model of the field is compiled. This makes it possible to take into account all slopes and hollows, the most arid places and areas with excess moisture.
Drones for processing farmland are used to apply liquid and solid fertilizers, plant protection products. Modified models will successfully replace the seeder, scattering plant seeds over the field.
Sales Director of DSK Supply LLC (representative of XAG) Kirill Komarov said that the manufacturer can offer customers drones with a tank of 16, 20 or 40 liters. Thanks to a more rational use of drugs, the consumption of drugs is reduced, the savings reach 30% and even more. The drone will help out the farmer in the rainy season, when ground equipment cannot go to work, as well as in the field with tall crops.
WaIkera official representative Dmitry Ursin noted that, unlike the observer drone, which has a diameter of about 30 centimeters, the diameter of the drone for spraying and sowing can reach up to two meters, and its weight can be up to 30 kilograms (excluding cargo).
The flight time of the drone, depending on the model and battery power, is from 15 minutes to half an hour. As the head of sales of EFT GROUP explained Gennady Timkov, while covering an area of 15 to 30 hectares. For a work shift lasting 8-10 hours, the drone is able to fly over more than 250 hectares of fields.
ECONOMY AND RELIABILITY
Nevertheless, experts believe that the purchase of such a unit for many agricultural enterprises will be a rational decision. According to Dmitry Ursin, a farmer, having an agricultural drone on his farm, may not spend money on an additional unit of ground agricultural equipment, the cost of which ranges from 10-20 million rubles. Paying 5-7 times less for a UAV for processing fields, the agrarian gets high speed and accuracy of work, maximum efficiency and savings on consumable materials.
The use of drones for surveying fields allows for a detailed analysis of vegetation conditions. This makes it possible to take timely measures to combat plant diseases and pests, to identify areas that need additional watering or, conversely, to remove excess moisture. As a result - a higher, high-quality harvest and rational use of resources.
At first glance, UAVs flying over the fields seem fragile and unreliable. But, as assured Dmitry Kalinin, UAVs are resistant to external influences and adapted to work in real conditions. They can hover over the field at wind speeds up to 10 m/s, and even a stronger wind will not prevent the device from flying over farmland.
Power lines and tree branches pose a certain threat to drones, this should be remembered when drawing up UAV routes. To reduce risks, modern drone manufacturers have equipped their products with security sensors. Such a unit is able to recognize objects on its way, inform the operator about them, make a stop on its own or fly around an obstacle.
Practice shows that emergency situations with drones are extremely rare. At the rate Kirill Komarova, they are caused in 90% of cases by gross errors of the pilot. Therefore, it is very important that the machine is operated by a person who has undergone special training. By the way, according to the unanimous opinion of experts, it is not difficult to become an expert in this matter. Official representatives of manufacturing companies organize training courses for their customers. A few days of studying theory, and then practical training, is enough to become a drone pilot.
Kirill Komarov recommends paying attention to the performance of the unit and the possibility of its high-quality maintenance. The machine must be strong and reliable, have an automatic control mode. It is important that in the region where the farm is located, there is a service center, it is possible to order and quickly receive the necessary spare parts.
For a small farmer, the decisive factor for the purchase will, of course, be the price. Zakhar Zavyalov believes that for simple video filming of fields, a farmer can use ordinary civilian drones - as they are cheaper. Their functionality is sufficient to monitor the state of crops or the work of machine operators in the field.
Those whose farmland is located in an area characterized by large elevation differences, Anatoly Penyuta advises choosing more maneuverable drones equipped with altitude sensors. Owners of large areas, according to Dmitry Ursin, you should pay attention to units with extended flight time and stock up on a sufficient number of replaceable batteries.
А Dmitry Kalinin recommends that agricultural producers first of all think about how often this equipment will be used on the farm. If the agrodrone will be used only a few times a year, it will be more profitable to rent the unit from a specialized company.
В WITHIN LAW
According to Government Decree No. 25.05.2019 of May 658, 19.03.2022 (as amended by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 415, 150 N30), all unmanned civil aircraft weighing from XNUMX g to XNUMX kg are subject to state registration. The state accounting service is provided by the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya).
Registration period is limited: within 10 days after purchase. The agency assigns an account number to each UAV, which must be applied to the drone before work begins.
It is also important to take into account that permission to use the airspace may be required for the departure (permission is not needed if the drone flies at an altitude of up to 150 meters from the ground, during daylight hours, outside the restricted / control zones).
Dmitry Kalinin noted that in matters of coordinating the flights of drones, the authorities in most cases go towards the farmers. And in general, the process of interaction with government agencies is gradually being simplified. So, already now there are two electronic procedures: registration and coordination of flights on the map of the area.
And yet, he thinks Kirill Komarov, the legal field in the field of the use of drones in Russia has not yet been worked out. Being one of the founders of this industry in Russia, DSK Supply LLC actively cooperates with government agencies. The purpose of such interaction is to work together to improve the legislative framework, establish effective legal regimes and place the use of drones in a clear legal framework.
THE FUTURE IS AGRICULTURAL DRONES
Agricultural drones are gaining more and more confidence in the airspace over Russian fields. CEO of GeosAero LLC Zakhar Zavyalov I am sure that our country is one of the most promising for the use of drones. We have huge territories, fields occupy tens of millions of hectares, and all these lands need to be carefully examined and cultivated with high quality.
According to experts, today drones are most widespread in the south of the country, in particular, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. UAVs are also actively used in Central Russia: in Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Kaluga, Voronezh, Belgorod and other regions. The demand for drones is stable in the Volga region, in the Urals, in Siberia and even in the Far East. However, according to the official representative of WaIkera Dmitry Ursin, the further north or east a region is, the fewer drones are used there.
In recent years, the number of drones sold for the needs of agriculture in Russia has increased markedly. DJI Distributor Representative Dmitry Kalinin noted that at the end of 2021, the demand for UAVs on the eve of the new season increased two to three times. And not only at the expense of existing customers, because at that time the company acquired many new customers. However, there is no talk about the widespread distribution of drones yet.
Although the head of sales of EFT GROUP Gennady Timkov I am sure that in order to increase the popularity of drones, it is necessary to provide farmers with more information about the capabilities of this technique. Our journal will try to contribute to this work.
Anatoly Penyuta, head of the geodetic department of Rusgeocom LLC, admitted that he sometimes meets with on the part of the agrarians, complete misunderstanding and wary relation to flying technology.
But after calculating the economics of the enterprise, using UAV, especially on long term and over large areas, even skeptics recognize the undeniable advantages of such aggregates.