Friday 5th July 2024
Dejex have teamed up with Quadrotor Services (QRS) to bring drone spreading and spraying services to the UK horticulture and agriculture market.
AI-powered safe, fast and accurate drone application is here and now in the UK. Despite extremely strict UK legislation QRS have Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Operational Safety Cases (OSC’s) to carry out a wide range of activities with XAG Drones.
Sorry for all the TLA’s! (Three Letter Acronyms)
What are the possibilities with Spray Drones in the UK?
Glasshouse Shading & Cleaning
Shading agents and class cleaning agents from manufacturers such as Lumiforte can legally be applied to glasshouse roofs using the correct XAG Drone if the pilot has appropriate training. Cleaning and shading of glasshouse roofs using handheld equipment is an extremely dangerous task, with some growers having to eliminate the practice. This has led to dirty glass being an increasing problem for growers. Although aerial application of a cleaning product may not shift very severe dirt, the use of spray drones allows growers to now safely, efficiently and accurately apply cleaning agents regularly at the end of each season stopping a build up of algae. Likewise some growers choose not to shade their greenhouse as the process is too dangerous or it is difficult to get a contractor at the correct time. Drone application is safe and more efficient meaning more area can be covered in the peak shading season, the XAG P100 Pro can apply up to 6Ha of Redusol shading paint per day.
Plant Protection Products
Sluxx from Certis Belchim has received an extrapolated trials permit to test spreading from XAG Drones. This leads the way for an EAMU and is a major step forward for the application of Plant Protection Products (PPP) and Sluxx slug pellet application by drone will be a useful tool for farmers in wet conditions. There is strong support from CRD and the CAA to push forward drone application using the ultra-low volume spraying the XAG spray drones are capable of. This is because drift is dramatically reduced, chemical volumes can be lowered and user exposure is less. In the near-term (1-3yrs) application of PPP’s in the UK is likely to be for specialist applications in difficult areas or conditions, such as Bracken control. But markets such as the USA, Brazil and South Africa are already spraying PPP’s on broad acre crops at ultra-low volume, volumes as low as 10lt/ha allow the XAG Drones to autonomously out perform a traditional 36m sprayer.
Seeding & Undersowing
Seeding via the spinning disc applicator of the XAG spray drones has multiple applications and can be carried out now. This has been used for seeding forestry in difficult to reach areas of the highlands. Also, a more commercial agricultural use is the undersowing of standing agricultural crops. The XAG P100 Pro drone is capable of lifting up to 80Kg so is capable of applying seed to large areas quickly. Undersown leys are becoming an important tool in agriculture to provide nutrient and water retention, to control weeds and to help protect against soil erosion.
Fertiliser Application
Fertilisers in both liquid and granular form can be applied via Drone. This could be very advantageous in extremely wet conditions as we saw in the winter of 2023/24. Although it may be difficult to achieve the Kg’s per ha required for low value granular blends, specialist fertilisers and slow release fertilisers can be applied in this way. Liquid fertilisers for correcting deficiencies can also be sprayed, in conjunction with drone mapping services this can result in very accurate low volume application.
Biologicals Application & Nematodes
Testing has already been undertaken of applying beneficial insects and nematodes via drone. The application of nematodes can also be undertaken in the dark to stop them being effected by UV light increasing efficacy further. One barrier to the application of beneficial insects to crops has been the lack of good application methods over large areas. The XAG P100 Pro’s spinning disc applicator means they can be accurately applied over large areas, this will hopefully lead to further develops in the use of beneficial insects in broad acre crops.
What if I want to buy my own Spray Drone?
QRS can help there too as they are a registered distributor of XAG drones. Going forward as more products can be sprayed via drones it will make sense for farmers and growers to have someone trained to fly. Once the official training has been carried out QRS will also offer additional onsite training to make sure users are competent and confident before carrying out spraying or spreading tasks.
Interested in joining the growing number of innovative horticultural and agricultural businesses using Drone spraying and spreading services? Talk to the experts