— 20 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 201 — Autumn 2019 Spraying for fertiliser plan corrections and localised pest and disease control is now possible with specialised drones equipped with nozzles and tanks with a liquid capacity of more than 10 litres. Drones follow a previously configured flight plan to spray exclusively the areas of interest, saving product and time of application. In countries such as Japan for example, agriculture companies rent these specialised drones for spraying crops, mostly in rice paddies. Weed detection, soil compaction assessment and release of beneficial insects over the farms at low altitude to control pests and prevent reductions in yield are also among some of the more recent applied uses of drones in agriculture. Although there are agronomists and drone-related companies that provide most of the services mentioned above, some people may prefer to buy and operate their own drone to monitor their crops. If that is the case, there are some considerations that must be taken into account. Can everyone fly a drone to monitor crops? Current drones are fun and easy to fly especially when using apps that enable the planning of automated flights. However, when trying to use these platforms for crop monitoring using thermal or multispectral sensors instead of standard cameras, some skills are needed. First, the sensors have to be integrated into the drone, which requires the use of an external battery (in which case, drone take-off weight should not be surpassed for safety) or the connection of the sensor to the drone battery. Second, image processing is needed to create a single high-resolution image of the whole field from all the images collected. Some platforms provide this service at a fixed or variable price depending on the area covered although software such as Pix4D or Agisoft, for example, can be obtained to process the images on your own. Lastly, specific vegetation indices have to be calculated from the data collected depending on the aspect of the crop to monitor, and variability then interpret, which is not always straightforward. Even if the drone is not going to be used for commercial purposes and it is going to be used on your own land, there are general rules from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) that should be followed. Among the most important safety rules are: (i) you must only fly during the day and must be able to see the drone with your eyes at all times (ii) you must not fly your drone higher than 120 metres above the ground (iii) you must not fly within 30 metres of people, unless the other person is also controlling or navigating the drone iv) you must keep at least 5.5 kilometres away from controlled aerodromes. Detailed information on operating your own drone can be found at CASA’s website https://www.casa.gov.au/aircraft/ landing-page/flying-drones-australia — 20 IREC Farmers’ Newsletter No. 201 — Autumn 2019 Drones at the service of agriculture Contact the authors Carlos Ballester Mobile: 0455 896 012 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @CeRRF_Griffith John Hornbuckle Mobile: 0429 862 920 Email: [email protected] BACK TO CONTENTS PAGE