Saving Up To 95% Water, Improving Efficiency, While Saving Chemicals: DJI Agras Drones Benefit Farmers in Turkey During Drought

Turkey frequently experiences drought, particularly in its southern and central regions. In fact, 2021 was the driest year in 20 years. With climate change, it is expected that droughts will become more frequent, and unfortunately, 2023 has already begun with a drought. The primary cause of water loss is attributed to inadequate irrigation practices.

 

 

Agricultural drones are proven to be a valuable asset for farmers in Turkey during drought conditions. By saving up to 95% of water and improving efficiency, this innovative solution also helps reduce chemical usage. With agricultural drones, the cutting-edge technology, growers can now optimize every aspect of their operations across different farming scenarios.

 

 

“In 2022, when insects attacked sunflowers in the Trakya region, the crops were damaged. We visited our farmers in Aksaray. We sprayed, invited them to the spraying demo. And they sprayed the affected area with drones. After observing the benefits, we bought two spraying drones,” said Emin KOÇAK, President at the Chamber of Agriculture of Aksaray. 

 

Now, with the use of drones, Chamber of Agriculture of Aksaray is able to gain profit thanks to the cutting-edge technology. In 2023, the organization plans to provide drone services to all our farmers in Aksaray, which shows a growing demand for agricultural drones in the country.

 

 

Overcoming Limitations of Tractors

 

Agricultural drones effectively minimize economic loss by avoiding crop crush during the operation and breaking spatial limitations during the operation caused by mud in the field.

 

“Spraying with tractors becomes impossible after a certain point in the plant’s growth cycle,” said Muhammet ÜNAL, farmer at the Konya region. Due to high temperature and strong sunlight, daytime spraying is sometimes impossible. Meanwhile, night spraying usually results in excessive chemical usage due to cooler temperatures and higher humidity. To avoid these issues, the GPS system is used to ensure simultaneous spraying without overlapping. Additionally, while spraying the land with drones, farmers do not have to remove the water hoses as well as consider about situations such as whether the land is muddy or not. Tractors cannot enter muddy land, but drones can overcome this limitation, which is a great relief for us,” according to Muhammet ÜNAL, farmer at the Konya region.

 

 

As one of the most experienced farmers in Karaman, Emrah ŞEN who cultivates approximately 2000 decares of land in the Karaman region also believe that the agras drone can significantly reduce economic loss caused by tractors. He has been operating a DJI Agras T30 for more than 1 year.

 

“We are treating about 1500-2000 decares of land in the Karaman region with the DJI Agras T30. In the past, we experienced crop damage due to rutting, especially crops that cover the entire field, such as wheat and barley,” according to Emrah ŞEN. Farmers typically experience a 7% to 10% crop damage rate in their fields. However, with the implementation of drone technology, this 10% loss can be transformed into a profit for farmers.

 

 

Improved Efficiency：25 decares in Only 8 – 10 Minutes

 

The biggest difficulty for farmers during cultivation is to improve the overall efficiency of agricultural activities.

 

“The drone benefited us by saving operation time. In the spraying we do with the traditional method, a farmer usually spends 45 minutes to 1 hour to spray a 25-decare area. Drones spray 25 decares in 8 – 10 minutes.” According to Emrah ŞEN, farmer in the Karaman region.  

 

Using traditional methods involving 2 tractors and 3 people, a maximum of 400-500 decares can be treated in 12 hours. However, by utilizing a drone, the efficiency can increase up to 2000 decares in the same time frame, requiring only one person.

 

 

 

Save Up to 95% of Water, Less Chemicals Used

 

In response to the severe drought in Aksaray, only 30-40 liters of water are now being used instead of the previous 1 ton. This conservation effort not only saves water and chemicals, but also protects the crops from harm.

 

Muhammet ÜNAL, farmer in the Konya region, owns both T10 and T30 series DJI drones. “One of the main problems in our region is the lack of water. The conventional spraying methods use about 25 liters of water per decare, whereas with drones, we only need 1 liter per decare,” said Muhammet ÜNAL.

 

 

Generally, agricultural drones can save up to 95% of water in agricultural spraying. This significant reduction in water usage has a positive impact at the Konya region. Additionally, using drones for spraying reduces the amount of pesticides needed, leading to lower usage of chemical products. which is beneficial for human health.

 

Case Study Source:

Shark Aviation

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