Drone can also make irrigation more efficient

Two companies have teamed up to spray water using drones – the smart method uses 10 litres of water per hectare, while tractors use 250. Corteva AgriScience and Brazilian company Arpac have jointly developed an efficient drone water spraying system. The new system is extremely promising, as the drone uses 10 litres of water per hectare using the spray method, compared to an average of 250 litres per hectare for a tractor.

The system, called Landvisor AplicAr-S, excels in terms of quality, consistency and precision, and ensures the most optimal use of water droplets. Arpac will start providing drone services in Brazil and the United States in August 2020, in partnership with Israeli company Taranis.

“We have proven that this technology saves significant costs through localised deployment, which helps to reduce costs and increase productivity in the field,” said Eduardo Goerl, CEO and founder of Arpac. The drone method is also highly effective in weed control. The two companies have carried out more than 90 tests in pastures to ensure that all technical requirements are met, including environmental and social factors.

According to Corteva and Arpac, the spray solution system has also proved to be more effective in weed control, with reduced drift and cost-effectiveness also far superior to conventional techniques. Spraying with a drone saved 1.2 million litres of water over 5 months in 5 areas averaging 1000 hectares.

“We tested numerous parameters under adverse climatic conditions to achieve the best possible results from a technical and sustainability point of view,” said project leader Guilherme Foresti Caldeira, Area Marketing Manager at Corteva Agriscience in Brazil. The new development uses only 10 litres of water per hectare, compared to an average of 250 litres per hectare with tractors. Landvisor AplicAr-S also offers precise applications and greater safety for workers.

Another advantage is the possibility to monitor and store all the data collected during the spraying operations. This makes it possible to analyse weed control results year after year. This provides technical adjustments and insight into cost-effectiveness. The initiative is part of the Plataforma-S programme, which Corteva launched in Brazil in 2020 as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.