XAG, a drone manufacturer based in Guangzhou, China, has partnered with German pesticide manufacturer Bayer CropScience to develop unmanned aerial vehicles that spray pesticides while driving autonomously to combat pests infested farms. XAG believes that the introduction of drones can combat 98% of pests.
The American white fire moth (Hyphantria cunea) is native to North America. The American white fire moth larvae are also a headache for farmers around the world, as they eat corn and other plant leaves and damage crops. In addition, the American white-fired moth, which has grown up, can fly a distance of 100 km and lays up to 1,000 eggs in a lifetime. Because of this threatening ability to move and reproduce, the American White Fire Moth is damaging African and Asian countries. According to XAG, the damage caused by the white fire moth in the U.S. in 2018 is estimated to reach $4.6 billion.
To get rid of the American white fire moth, you have to spray pesticides or remove the larva manually. However, the reality is that both methods have low precision and can never be said to be effective. Also, spraying pesticides has the potential to seriously harm your health.
The precision UAS spraying solution developed by XAG is a method of spraying pesticides to obtain the maximum effect with minimal labor. Drones can evenly spray pesticides on farms through a powerful downdraft spraying machine spray of micro-level droplets.
The strength of the precision drone spraying method is that drones can be introduced without high-level control for automatic flight according to various environments or weather through the flight control system and AI independently developed by XAG. The location information system based on the base station installed in the field and the radar mounted on the drone are used to spray only the necessary places at night when the American white fire moth larvae are most active.
It is said that spraying pesticides cannot be removed if the larva is hidden behind the leaf. If you use the precision drone spraying method, you can accurately spray pesticides on the back side of the leaves. The precision drone spraying method is a system that only sprays the required amount at the pinpoint where it is needed, and it is said that the use of pesticides can be reduced by 30% and the use of agricultural water by 90%.
In April, XAG and Bayer Crop Science conducted an experiment to remove white fire moths in a borough in China by spraying precision drones with new pesticides with low toxicity to corn fields and sugar cane fields. As a result, it was found that 98% of the larvae living in the field died.
In addition, in July, the Chinese government organized a drone team to minimize pest damage on 270 hectares of farmland using seven new drones. Related information can be found here .