Digital Transformation Monitor

Drones in agriculture

January 2018

Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

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Drones in agriculture

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Practical applications for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), commonly referred to as “drones”, have progressedsignificantly in recent years as the technology has improved in tandem with a fall in its cost. Interest from bothconsumers and business in drones is growing, with new applications being developed rapidly for use across manyindustries including agriculture – one of the primary sectors expected to see sharp uptake of drone technology in thenear future.

Drones will help in many industries

Many industries are expected seegrowing reliance on drones, especiallyinfrastructure, transport, security andagriculture. Proponents of drones arguethat for many applications, their use willdeliver faster, more precise results thantraditional processes and methods, thatgenerally rely heavily on a large human

Despite a long history of humansexperimenting with unmanned aircraft,the rapid development of both theconsumer and professional dronemarkets has been made possible byrecent progress in several fields,particularly miniaturization, batteries,imagery and remote communications.The value of global drone sales reachedUSD $8.5bn in 2016 and is expected tosurpass USD $12bn by 2021 (a CAGR ofabout 8%)1.

The fast-growing drone market

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Source: CBInsights

Figure 1: Drone market map

© The Wall Street Journal

7 millionEstimated consumer drone

shipments in 2016(BI Intelligence estimates, 2016)

29 millionEstimated consumer drone

shipments in 2021(BI Intelligence estimates, 2016)

workforce. In addition to the expectedspeed and time gains on many tasks,drones are expected to bring aboutsignificant cost reductions versusemploying human workers – suchsavings will be particularly noticeable inindustries where humans have typicallyundertaken difficult or dangerous work,as safety and compliance related costswill be reduced or avoided altogether.

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Drones in agriculture

One of the keys to meeting growing fooddemand and improving current waterusage levels lies in the introduction ofnew technologies to agriculture,including the Internet of Things (‘IoT),Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. Thesetechnologies are beginning to power orenhance new and existing methods andtools, and have already been deployed onfarms – connected tractors are a well-known example of new technologyalready in use. Drones however are amore recent and less mature tool interms of the new technologies drivingthe development of precision agriculture.

Currently, most drones for agricultural-use are medium-sized (usually foranalysis applications) while largerdrones are used when there is a need tocarry a load (i.e. planting or sprayingapplications).

Like most industries currently usingdrones, multi-rotor configurations seemto be the favourite in agriculture, likelydue to their lower cost and high level ofsimplicity.

Agricultural applications for drones

The versatility of drones provides manydifferent avenues for improving uponexisting agricultural processes including:

Soil and field analysis

Drones are able to produce 3D maps,quickly and cheaply, which are then usedfor the design of seed-planting patternsand the generation of a wide range ofdata types with many applications. Forexample, nitrogen-level management.

Crop monitoring

Satellite imagery was previously themost advanced form of crop monitoring,but suffers from some major drawbacks:

• Satellite imagery is very costly.

• Images must be ordered in advanceand can be imprecise.

• Poor weather impedes data quality.

Drones however can monitor cropsmuch more accurately, frequently andaffordably, delivering higher quality datathat is updated regularly to provideinsight into crop development andhighlight inefficient or ineffectivepractices.

According to SenseFly (a dronemanufacturer specializing in agriculture)the utilization of drones by the Ocealiagroup resulted in a 10% averageincrease in crop yields.

Health assessment

Drones can also be used to generatemultispectral images of crops (based onthe amounts of green and infrared lightreflected), which are then analysed totrack changes in health and maturity3.

The ability to assess the health of a cropquickly and precisely can be invaluablefor farmers. If for instance a bacterial orfungal infection is identified, earlydetection allows for quick action to betaken in order to remedy the issue.

Irrigation

Agriculture accounts for the vastmajority (70%) of water used in theworld – more than twice that of industry(23%)4. Aside from being wasteful,excessive water usage is increasinglyunsustainable as competition for theplanet’s finite resources intensifies in theface of rapid population growth. Leakyirrigation systems and wasteful fieldapplication techniques are two of thefactors contributing to inflatedagricultural water use figures, and bothcan be addressed by UAVs.

Drones equipped with specialmonitoring equipment can be used toidentify parts of a field experiencing“hydric stress” (inadequate of water ofsufficient quality). They use infrared andthermal sensors to provide snapshots ofentire fields, allowing targeted diagnosisof areas receiving too much or too littlewater.

Many players involved in the dronesmarket

The drone market is currently highlyfragmented, with numerous softwareproviders and vertical specialistscompeting in addition to manufacturers.Indeed, it is a common practice of manycompanies to build on drones made bymanufacturers like DJI or Parrot bydeveloping additional hardware,software or hybrid solutions tailored foruse in a specific industry.

Different sizes and form factorsavailable in the drone market

The drone market is very heterogeneous,with many different models used evenwithin one specific industry. Thesedrones can be categorized according to:

Size

• From very small drones (size of a largeinsect)…

• … to large drones (able to carry heavyloads).

Type of aerial platform

• Multi-rotor configuration (with severalmotors) able to maintain a stableposition – easy to pilot but with limitedendurance.

• Single rotor, akin to an helicopter -generally has greater efficiency versus amulti-rotor2, but is more complex to pilotand more expensive to purchase.

• Fixed wing configuration, akin to anairplane – cannot hover over one placeand is hard to pilot, but able to coverlarge areas and distances.

Drones for agriculture

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Source: Agsky

Figure 3: Water control / drainageusing drone imagery

Source: Australian UAV

Figure 2: Single rotor drone for spraying (left) and fixed wing drone ready totake off (right)

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While the potential for drone-use inagriculture is significant, there are stillseveral notable impediments to theirprogression beyond the niche marketthey occupy today.

Difficult financial situations of manyfarms likely to hamper adoption

Agriculture remains a difficult, low-margin business for many farmers, withgovernments frequently assisting whenadverse weather or market conditionsarise. Despite their savings-potential,drones still require substantial capitalinvestment and technical expertise to beacquired and properly utilised, makingthem difficult to justify for many small-to-medium sized farms that are lesslikely to benefit from economies of scale.

Drones in agriculture

The challenges ahead

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Source: Parrot (French drone manufacturer)

Figure 4: : Visualization of data based on drone imagery

Source: Sensefly

Figure 5: Drone usages based on season

5000 €Price of Bluegrass, a multi rotor drone developed by

Parrot for visual monitoring and health assessment

1850 gramsWeight of Bluegrass

According to the MSA (the farmers’social security in France), around 30% offarmers reported income below €350per month in 20166.

Currently, drones used in agriculture aregenerally either bought and useddirectly by a farmer or a cooperative offarmers (to share costs). Alternatively,they can be operated by adrone/technology company which iscontracted by the farmer.

Regardless of the ownership model, it isclear that drones will need to prove theycan substantially and reliably improveupon existing processes before they arewidely adopted.

These drones also allow for thevegetation index (density and health ofthe crop) to be calculated while the cropis growing, enabling and informingbetter crop management.

Crop spraying

The ability of drones to easily adjusttheir altitudes and flight paths accordingto the surrounding topography andgeography comes from the use ofincreasingly sophisticated equipment(rader, LiDAR etc.). This makes themwell-suited for crop spraying, as they canscan the ground and apply liquidsquickly and with great precision. Someexperts argue that crop spraying bydrones may be up to five times fasterthan with regular machinery5.

Aerial planting

Drone-planting systems are underdevelopment with the goal of drasticallyreducing labor costs by usingcompressed air to fire seed pods directlyinto the ground. This avoids thesignificant labor costs traditionallyassociated with planting activities.

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Drones in agriculture

Quality of data captured

Most applications of drone technologyrely on its ability to generate and deliverprecise and accurate information. Thisdata is then either used to guide directactivities like spraying, or to informcomplementary activities like cropanalysis and monitoring.

Consequently, data quality is crucial andshould be core priority of drone usedecisions, with aspects like a drone’sspeed and flexibility only secondaryconsiderations7.

Given the relative infancy of agriculturaldrone technology, there is still muchprogress to be made. For example,Chateau Lagrange, a vineyard in theBordeaux region, trialed drones andsensors and compared themeasurements to reference figures theyhad compiled. Whilst valuableinformation was gleaned, the technologywas considered to be commerciallypremature8 and not sufficiently reliableas a standalone solution. It will as suchbe used in tandem with traditionalmethods, as a complementary tool, untilsuch time as the technology becomesmore advanced.

Despite this, it is really only a matter oftime until drone technology is matureenough to act as a replacement forexisting methods, as the industry israpidly integrating newer sensors,cameras and processing technologies,constantly improving the quality of thedata captured.

Ability of farmers to modernize

Widespread uptake of new technologyrequires farmers to adapt and modernizeproduction practices in order to obtainthe best returns on these investments.With over 56% of the workforce agedover 55 in Europe9, digital skills areoften lacking, meaning that additionalinvestment in training is often required.According to a 2017 survey conducted by

1 BI Intelligence, The Drones Report, Available at:

http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/drone-industry-analysis-market-trends-growth-forecasts-2017-7/2 Australian UAV , Types of Drones: Multi-Rotor vs Fixed-Wing vs Single Rotor vs Hybrid VTOL, Available at: https://www.auav.com.au/articles/drone-types/3 AgriTech Tomorrow, How do Drones Help Farmers?, Available at

https://www.agritechtomorrow.com/article/2017/08/how-do-drones-help-farmers/101534 WWF, Farming: Wasteful water use, Available at:

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/impacts/water_use/5 MIT Technology Review, 2016, Six Ways Drones Are Revolutionizing Agriculture, Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601935/six-ways-drones-are-revolutionizing-agriculture/ 6 MSA (the farmers’ social security in France), October 2017 Available at: http://www.msa.fr/lfy/web/msa/conference-presse-rentree-ccmsa-20177 PWC, 2016, Clarity from above, PwC global report on the commercial applications of drone technology, Available at: https://www.pwc.pl/en/publikacje/2016/clarity-from-above.html8 Château Lagrange, Viticulture connectée, retour d’expérience, Available at http: //www.agence-fleurie.com/2016/09/vinitiques-9-viticulture-connectee-retour-experience/9 Euractiv, 2016, Farming 4.0: The future of agriculture? (2013 figure) Available at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/infographic/farming-4-0-the-future-of-agriculture/10 United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, August 2017, Available at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/FarmComp/FarmComp-08-18-2017_correction.pdf

References

Source: Sentera

Figure 7: Autonomous drone flight planning for agriculture(AgVaultTM app)

the United States Department ofAgriculture, 73% of farms havecomputer access, but only 47% of farmsare using computers for businesspurposes10. Furthermore, only 39% offarms use a smartphone or a tablet forfarm business.

This raises questions not only of accessto technology, but of the level ofinclination farmers have to use it in theirwork. It’s possible that possessingtechnology but choosing not to use it is abyproduct of the general lack of digitalskills and confidence found in oldersegments of the population, wherefarmers and other rural dwellers arewell represented.

This is an important issue to overcome,given that drones are usually controlleddirectly with digital tools (computersand tablets) in order to create the flightplan, and generate then analyse thegathered data.

As a result, drone manufacturers areincreasingly adapting their products, anddeveloping autonomous features whichrequire less tech-savviness, flyingskills/experience and infrastructure tooperate effectively.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture

Figure 6 : Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, August 2017

About the Digital Transformation MonitorThe Digital Transformation Monitor aims to foster the knowledge base on the state of play and evolution of digital transformation inEurope. The site provides a monitoring mechanism to examine key trends in digital transformation. It offers a unique insight intostatistics and initiatives to support digital transformation, as well as reports on key industrial and technological opportunities,challenges and policy initiatives related to digital transformation.

Web page: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/dem/

This report was prepared for the European Commission, Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs;Directorate F: Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing; Unit F/3 KETs, Digital Manufacturing and Interoperability by the consortiumcomposed of PwC, CARSA, IDATE and ESN, under the contract Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor (EASME/COSME/2014/004)

Authors: Laurent Probst, Bertrand Pedersen & Lauriane Dakkak-Arnoux, PwC

DISCLAIMER – The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be considered as theofficial opinions or statements of the European Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included inthis publication. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use whichmight be made of the information contained in this publication. © 2017 – European Union. All rights reserved.