VARIABLE RATE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

Abstract

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in agriculture is an innovation for Russia and has great potential, especially when implementing the tasks of precision farming. The directions of using UAV in agriculture are considered. It is shown that for the differentiated application of fertilizers and pesticides, it is most expedient to use UAVs of helicopter and rotary-wing type flying at low speeds (30-40 km/h) and low altitudes (0.5-1.5 m) with a large payload (300-400 kg), as they most fully meet ecological and environmental requirements and ensure the safety of modern human-machine systems. The basic requirements to the quality of the technological operation for the variable rate application of fertilizers and pesticides with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles have been developed: the rate of application of fertilizer working fluids 50-200 l/ha with a discreteness of doses of 10-15 kg active fraction per hektar (25-40 l/ha), pesticides -10-20 l/ha with discreteness of 5 l/ha, median mass diameter of droplets - 250-300 mkm, uneven distribution of working fluid over the operating width is no more than 15 percent, demolition of working fluids outside the treated area is no more than 20 percent, time of control index setting at the boundaries of the allocated plots is no more than 1.1 s; operating speed of the flight is not more than 40 km/h, the altitude of the flight when applying fertilizers and pesticides equals 1.0-1.5 m.

Keywords

• точное земледелие
• беспилотные летательные аппараты
• почвенное плодородие
• фитосанитарное состояние посевов
• внутриполевая вариабельность
• дифференцированное внесение удобрений и пестицидов
• precision agriculture
• unmanned aerial vehicles
• soil fertility
• phytosanitary state of crops
• intrafield variability
• variable rate application of fertilizers and pesticides