The DJI AGRAS T16: An Appealing Solution for Banana Pest Control

DJI agricultural drones have been widely recognized in pest and disease control for rice, wheat, cotton, peanut, and other field crops. With the release of the Agras T16, what can this new drone do for controlling pests in fruit trees?

 

 

On March 28, 2019, a spraying team in Hainan, China used two T16 drones to tackle the spread of thrip and the black Sigatoka leaf spot throughout 16 hectares of banana trees in Dongfang City. 

 

“For fruit trees such as bananas, the spraying flow and droplet sedimentation of the T16 meet control requirements, as well as greatly improve the efficiency of operation,” Said Yang, an operational pilot on the scene.

 

The successful operation ran through March 2017, using the parameters listed below:

 

 

Environment Information

 

Land Type	Flat	Location	Basuo County, Donfang, Hainan
Wind	Lv. 3	Temperature & Weather	Sunny, 23°C-30°C

 

 

Operation Parameters

 

Flight Mode	Route Operation	Flight Speed	4.5 m/s
Flight Altitude	2.5 m	Route Spacing	5.5 m
Volume per Hectare	174.2 ml	Nozzle Type	XR110015VS

 

 

The banana trees were rooted in a flat terrain with regular land parcels, which is suitable for Route Operation mode (fully automatic). Since banana trees are tall and have multiple canopy layers, the team flew the T16 slowly to ensure adequate coverage of the sprayed solution. To guarantee the spraying effect and maximize the work efficiency, the team set the dosage per hectare to 174 ml and the flight speed to 4.5 m/s.

 

 

Pesticide and Fungicide Information

 

Pesticide/Fungicide Name	Type	Concentration of Active Ingredient	Amount per Hectare
Taosiben	Emulsifiable Concentrate	45% Dursban	1.34 ml
Zhengmeng	Microemulsion	450 g/L Imidacloprid	0.87 ml
Xianliang	Emulsifiable Concentrate	40% Difenoconazole·Pyraclostrobin	1.68 ml
Caiyoule	Water Dispersible Granule	40% Spinetoram·Sulfoxaflor	0.27 ml

 

The purpose of this operation is to prevent the spread of thrip and the black Sigatoka leaf spot disease. The pesticides and fungicides mentioned above are recommended by chemists and are mixed and made suitable for aerial spraying.