Drone System for Field Management

Drones are a powerful tool for automatic and more efficient farm management. Their main advantages are in operative and non-invasive work and using the most advanced IT for automatization, which increases production sustainability and efficiency. Particularly, fertilizing by drone according to the plant and weather condition can decrease the plant nitrogen deficiency stress minimizing the nitrogen leaking in the soil. There exist field monitoring drones and drone-based services, as well as commercially available drones for spraying and fertilizing. However, the main challenges for their using are high cost, uncertainty in the profitability and preparing farm staff for operating of the new technology. Combination of these factors prevents using drones on farms in Finland, although, in many countries they are intensively used creating more competitive production methods. To support farmers and other production participants in investment in high-cost equipment, research describing an entire view of the technology application with its advantages and limitations must be conducted. In this research, the efficiency of the drone using will be estimated, requirements for drones integration to the farms will be defined, integration methods will be started to be developed, and the results will be widely disseminated among farmers and other related parts. The proposed research will be a part of a strategy for integrating the novel high technological tools into Finnish farms helping to cope with the current climatic, economic and social challenges.