Agriculture drone is actually have only a few difference to common drones, but I still want to share this video about flying our 10 liter quadcopter agriculture sprayer drone for plant protection service.

how to fly an agriculture drone (12 min 1 sec)

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http://www.ebuav.com/

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So what nozzles are included with this? Pump volume output? Area covered at typical aerial water rates(2.5-3GPA)? Flight time? Area covered per hour? Only 10 liters?!

Stop asking directly relevant technical questions and putting a damper on the marketing! Lol!

10! Liters?! The mix I will put out tomorrow morning includes 1 gal. of foliar feed fertilizer per acre. So, for you to do this job, (730 ac.), at roughly 2.5 ac./load, it would take just under 300 loads to do what I do in 4 loads. It will take me about 2.5 hrs to accomplish. You? Oh yeah, there are 4 other chemicals to mix precisely for each load....doing that 290+ times should be no chore....and remember, no less people will be required to do it your way. Just curious, what do you charge per acre to apply with the drone?

Yeah I would love to see these Chinese drone manufacturers actually make or even post something useful. They might actually sell one or two then. As it sits I am pumping out 15gpa on fungicide with just over 1000ac booked. So that is 15000 gallons of solution to be put out, which is almost 57,000 liters. So maybe the OP can tell me how long it will take to spray those acres. If it helps with the math, that is 570 trips with the drone............

Whoa nice! this greatly helps thank you.

Ok, I may have come off as a jerk in my previous post, but I was showing the reality of actual agricultural applications. Spreading of dry fertilizer is even more volume/weight intensive. The machine I operate holds 625 gallons, or roughly 3700 lbs of 46% nitrogen fertilizer. I operate at 160 mph and carry a 70+ foot swath, depending on total rate. It is a 12,500 lb aircraft with 1050 hp. No matter the size of the drone, it still takes the same number of humans to complete the operation. The difference is, the drone no matter how automated, cannot adjust for conditions like I or any other human operated machine can. I am aware of how my spray swath is affected by the wind in the moment and can adjust for sensitive sides of the field. The other factor, a drone has no pride in it's work, it only knows what is programmed....I have a lot of pride in my work, and adjust things based on my lengthy experience to produce the best possible outcome for the conditions as they are, 'in the moment'.

I think you two are missing the point of using a drone for agricultural spraying. Drones have to be used in conjunction with precision agriculture. They are not meant to carpet bomb an entire field with pesticide/herbicide the best use of a small spray drone is spot application. Take an aerial photo of the field and then spray only the areas showing a problem.

If the area shows a problem in an aerial photo the damage is already done especially when it comes to disease and insect pressure. Not to mention the simple fact that it only holds 10 liters. 10 liters is not even close enough to do spot spraying. When it can carry 20 gallons you will have my interest. Even one of the local crop protection companies bought a drone with a near IR camera to use as part of crop scouting. Lasted a week, found it took less time to just scout the field the old fashioned way.

If you're really serious about using drones to survey agriculture fields for precision agriculture, look up Overwatch imaging:

https://www.overwatchimaging.com/

Their payload can help you spot trouble areas ahead of time, BEFORE the damage is done, and generate actionable data that you can then either use regular, manned vehicles to address, or a large UAV.

There is a company that recently flew a multirotor with a 200 pound payload of glycol. They performed wind turbine de-icing with it. There's no reason this same multirotor couldn't switch out the glycol to pesticides or fertilizer.

Anything can be done, the question is how much $$$ do you have? LOL!

I’m not arguing that a UAV can’t do what I do(eventually,)(and at somewhat lower capabilities)..I am arguing that it can’t be done with less people or at a lower cost....imagine the cost of a non human piloted 625 gallon carrying aerial machine!? What is the benefit? There are already variable rate systems available for current aircraft flown by humans....testing ensues, but no consensus on if it is actually better overall.

Any machine that flies in the USA in NAS has to be certified to FAA standards. Because human life is both fragile, and incomprehensibly precious.

That certification, and ALL ensuing maintenance, is very expensive. An electric UAV that can be programmed to fly the “mission” autonomously requires less maintenance, less time paying for a professional pilot, and doesn’t put human life in direct danger (like actually being in the aircraft does). And when it requires maintenance, it’s far far cheaper than a manned aircraft.

There’s a few reasons it’s not being done in large numbers across the USA yet:

1. Existing aircraft are bought and paid for and are completing the needs.

But as newcomers enter the world of precision agriculture, they’ll be looking for competitive advantage. And they’ll be looking into automation wherever they can, because that saves money, even if there’s a larger up front cost.

2. Regulations. The ability to fly large (625 gallons of liquid, or whatever) payloads can be done, but the current regulatory environment is a steaming mess. Business owners are willing to take risks if they’re able to see the potential outcome, but when the government is a player with no clear plan forward, they’ll just pass. They’ll wait until some kind of regulations are in place that allow them to advance without fear of their huge investment being turned into a paperweight due to some ramdom law or regulation.

3. Knowledge. The world of agriculture is quite far removed from the tech world. In my experience, many people I meet are very unaware of what can be done, at what cost, when it comes to UAVs. There are usually two types of people. Those that have had a glimpse of some of the more fantastic flying creations and are now hopelessly optimistic and believe UAVs can just fly to the moon and back. And then there are those who simply just don’t know at all what UAVs are capable of, and how they might integrate them into their processes.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, I’m just very passionate about commercial UAVs (and a massive FPV nerd, too!)