Use of drones begins for spraying fertiliser and pesticides

The use of technology and machinery in agriculture is increasing day by day. Instead of harvesting rice or crops with traditional sickles, harvesters are now being used to cut, thresh, and winnow crops simultaneously. Advanced mechanised methods for applying pesticides and fertilizers using drones have also arrived.

Agricultural officers and farmers say that using drones allows fertilisers and pesticides to be sprayed in measured quantities, while also avoiding health risks for farmers. Where it takes a person two hours to spray pesticides on one bigha of land, a drone takes only five minutes, and the cost is lower as well.

Two companies—Genius Farms Limited and Flymec—are jointly carrying out pilot, field-level pesticide application using drones. Technical support is being provided by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute. These drones, manufactured locally using Chinese components, can carry up to five kilograms of pesticides.

This service is being provided through two local farmers’ associations in Belabo upazila of Narsingdi and Singair upazila of Manikganj. For now, farmers can avail themselves of the service using two drones in exchange for a fixed fee. The drone technology was recently showcased at the SME Fair held in Dhaka.

Explaining the advantages of drone-based pesticide spraying, Samiran Biswas, Head of the Agriculture Department at Genius Farms, told Prothom Alo that spraying pesticides on one bigha of land using drones costs between Tk 200 and Tk 300, whereas the cost through agricultural laborers ranges from about Tk 500 to Tk 1,000. A person needs two hours to do the job, while a drone completes it in just three to five minutes.
It is learned that this modern technology is currently being used to apply pesticides on 50 to 60 acres of land belonging to around 200 farmers in the two upazilas mentioned.

Meanwhile, drones are also being used for the same purpose in Birulia, Savar. Farmer Moktar Hossain said that pesticides were sprayed on his land by operating a drone through remote control. On days when pesticides are applied using traditional methods, the body becomes weak, and even using masks does not fully prevent harm. Spraying with machines seems to reduce those risks. Moreover, spraying pesticides on one bigha of land takes nearly two hours using conventional methods.

Officials of Genius Farms Limited and Flymec said they want to turn drone-based pesticide application into a business model in the future. Accordingly, they plan to operate drones through farmers’ associations in villages. If used widely, a single drone could earn rental income of Tk 200,000 to Tk 300,000 per month.

The officials said that manual application takes more time and uses more pesticides. With drones, the quantity of pesticides is controlled through GPS technology. Many farmers are also interested in renting the service without purchasing a drone. If a profitable business model can be established, relevant government agencies will also be interested in working on the initiative.

Flymec officials said that these agricultural drones are now being manufactured locally, bringing the price down to between Tk 300,000 and Tk 350,000. In dragon fruit orchards in particular, where plants have many thorns, manual pesticide application is risky; in such cases, drones can play an effective role.

Flymec Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jawad Rashid told Prothom Alo that they also sell drones. Interested buyers can obtain a drone by paying half the price—around Tk 175,000 upfront—with the remaining amount to be paid later from service fees. He added that Flymec will begin full-scale commercial operations next year and that work is underway to increase drones’ pesticide-carrying capacity from 10 to 20 liters.

However, because agricultural plots in Bangladesh are relatively small, flying drones can be somewhat challenging. Therefore, greater benefits can be achieved if farmers from several adjacent plots use drones together.

Genius Farms is primarily a software company. For the past five years, it has been working on the use of technology and artificial intelligence in agriculture. Through a free app called Doctor Chashi, users can obtain information on diseases and recommended pesticide quantities for 41 major crops.

In addition, another company called Drone Bangladesh is also selling drones suitable for agricultural use. The company mainly markets DJI drones manufactured in Australia and has been selling drones in Bangladesh since 2015. However, officials say that for now, government and private institutions mostly use these drones for research and project-related work.

Drone Bangladesh proprietor Kamran Ahmed said that they offer drones priced between Tk 1.5 million and Tk 5 million. They also have drones capable of carrying 20 to 30 liters, and even up to 100 liters, of pesticides. However, there is greater demand in Bangladesh for smaller drones with a 10-liter capacity. He added that there are plans to set up an in-house assembly or manufacturing plant in the future.