You guys reckon with a big enough drone (or a few of them) you could hoist a pivot line spin it around the center, then fly to a new field to rinse and repeat. Get rid of those monstrously huge Fixed Center Pivot that are only in use 15% of the year??
Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
51–60 of 279 posts
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#52Anyone know the model name of the drone used?
Article says brand is XAG so must be one of these: https://www.xa.com/en/plant-protection-uas The photo looks like either XAG P100 or P100 Pro.
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#53This is so great. My long term dream is that robotics take over farming, individually plucking each weed or weevil, and metering just the right amount of water for each individual plant, so that all the crops are organic. Most of the chemicals (yes, including nitrogen fertilizers) offset labor, so when the labor is free we shouldn’t need them. And people won’t have to spend their lives in stoop-back work or exposed t…
And more, smaller, robots vs large tractors could put an end to monocultures. Monoculture is the result of optimizing for minimal human labour, not an optimization for yields. So when labour is free, mixed fields are the way to maximize profits
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#54I can see this making sense for monitoring and observation and even for very targeted application of pesticides. But bulk application of pesticides and seed, I just can't imagine land vehicles aren't more efficient in terms of energy use and longevity. Maybe rice fields are particularly unsuited to it. But buying a drone as an investment for your children... I don't think it's gonna last that long.
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#55Ultimately drones may enable purely-mechanical pesticide-free removal of each individual insect/weed.
Reminds me of the mosquito laser. It would target only female mosquitos of the specific breed (they are the malaria carriers). It was only prototyped and never commercially produced. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
> It was only prototyped and never commercially produced.
aka Vaporware
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity how does nitrogen fertilizer offset labor?
Directly, as a substitute for more labour intensive sources like manure, compost or crop rotation. Indirectly by increasing yield per acre per day.
But in the end you have to replace at least some of the nitrogen (and other nutrients) you are taking from the field in some way. And without a major shift in consumption patterns (less meat) this will mean fertilizer, as the alternatives usually lead to a much lower yield.
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#57Ultimately drones may enable purely-mechanical pesticide-free removal of each individual insect/weed.
For weeds, this is already a thing. There are weed bots that kill with fire and others that kill with lasers.
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#58Ultimately drones may enable purely-mechanical pesticide-free removal of each individual insect/weed.
Reminds me of the mosquito laser. It would target only female mosquitos of the specific breed (they are the malaria carriers). It was only prototyped and never commercially produced. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser
I saw a video where this company is doing exactly that for weeds:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=V3A6L2Dao6s
Great idea, I hope it works.
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#59I can see this making sense for monitoring and observation and even for very targeted application of pesticides. But bulk application of pesticides and seed, I just can't imagine land vehicles aren't more efficient in terms of energy use and longevity. Maybe rice fields are particularly unsuited to it. But buying a drone as an investment for your children... I don't think it's gonna last that long.
Do you mean that you don't think the drone's electronics won't physically last long enough to pass down to their children? The lithium ion batteries will need to be replaced every few years, and eventually the motors and control boards and other parts will need to be replaced as well (rotors), but why wouldn't they be able to pass the drone and the skills and knowledge down to their children?
Re: Agricultural drones are transforming rice farming in the Mekong River delta
#60This is so great. My long term dream is that robotics take over farming, individually plucking each weed or weevil, and metering just the right amount of water for each individual plant, so that all the crops are organic. Most of the chemicals (yes, including nitrogen fertilizers) offset labor, so when the labor is free we shouldn’t need them. And people won’t have to spend their lives in stoop-back work or exposed t…
Out of curiosity how does nitrogen fertilizer offset labor?
By growing nitrogen fixers such as peas and beans on the same fields.