One of the professional UAVs with the greatest projection in the civil sector, apart from safety and surveillance, is precision agriculture. The importance of resource optimization in agriculture is in constant growth. Therefore, agricultural recognition through professional UAVs provides detailed land analysis in real time. Furthermore, treatments are highly localized, improving their efficiency.

More than a future, professional UAVs for precision agriculture are present in several countries. Although, nowadays, there is a large expansion worldwide due to the easy access to new technologies. In Brazil, this technology is currently being used in soybean fields, and in Japan, it is used for spraying herbicides and fertilizers.

Precision agriculture UAVs increase productivity for those who use them to take care of their crops. When flying over land, they quickly capture statistical data through onboard sensors. With this data, specific maps are produced, providing important information for crop management.

Specific applications of UAVs in precision agriculture

• Early detection of plagues and diseases
  The detection of fungus or weeds on crops is possible by obtaining multispectral images using UAV systems. With the information obtained, methods for solving the problem can be quickly applied, the effectiveness of the methods used can be studied, and the progress of applied techniques can be examined. It helps to prevent that plagues or diseases affect the whole parcel.
• Improve irrigation efficiency
  The location of areas that need more or less irrigation is vital. The detection of water stress by using multispectral photographs and thermal sensors facilitates evaluating and optimizing the efficiency of irrigation in crops.
• Control of sprayed areas
  Considering the concentration and disposition of weeds, healthy areas will be excluded from fumigation. Saving resources and getting more naturally grown crops, all from the bird’s-eye view that the UAV provides us in precision agriculture.
• Optimization of fertilizers
  The detection of nutritional stress is feasible thanks to the capture of multispectral images that assess the growth of vegetation. Obtaining the necessary information to administer the exact dosage of fertilizers in examined areas.
• Quality control and crop status
  It is possible to get indicators of quality and yield in plantations with the combination of multispectral photographs and the data obtained during crop inspection.
• Creation of inventories and inspection of agricultural areas
  With precision agriculture, it is possible to perform the aerial identification of the amount and species of trees, which is always extremely helpful. Especially in difficult-access areas.
• Fumigation and fertilization
  By installing precision spray devices, dispensing of fumigants and fertilizer agents becomes possible, applying the product directly and precisely into the treatment area.
• Plague control with biological resources
  Thanks to the versatility of the drones, it is possible to apply biological techniques for plague control. Such as SIT techniques or the controlled introduction of plague natural enemies.

All these advantages of precision farming are possible with the Veronte Autopilot 1x system installed in an UAV platform. An optimized system for professional applications that includes advanced functionalities for the application of precision agriculture technology with UAVs, such as picture taking with a fixed interval or overlap, automatic activation of video cameras, controlled payload release, spray system control, low altitude flying with precision altimeters, autonomous obstacle avoidance,…