Drones — coming soon to a farm near you

Kenyan farmers will soon be able to use drones on their farms, enabling them monitor their production more accurately and improve yields and earnings.

Researchers are developing drones that use cutting-edge automation and imaging technology to provide farmers with services that were previously the function of agricultural extension officers.

This is expected to boost earnings significantly, according to Mr Lawrence Nderu, an assistant lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology’s School of Computer Science and Information Technology, and a researcher at the University of Paris.

Game changer

“Information is a game changer when it comes to agriculture and a lot of our farmers do not have the right information at the right time, or worse, are misguided, which impacts negatively on their farming practices,” he said.

“The situation has been made worse by the fact that agricultural officers, who were very active in the 90s, today are very few and farmers have few sources for up-to-date data on factors like pest control or seed varieties.”

Nderu said a solution to the dearth of agricultural officers, particularly in large commercial farms, is technology, hence his research on drones.

Dr Nicolas Jouandeau, an assistant professor at the University of Paris’ Computer Science and Information Science Department, specialises in artificial intelligence and robotics and is actively involved in Kenya’s drones-for-agriculture project.

“Drones are being used in agricultural applications in other places in the world like Japan, and their use is leading to measurable gains for farmers and we hope to replicate this here in Kenya,” he said.

Nderu added: “We start by collecting information from farmers and farms in different parts of the country, and put it up in an online database that we can use as a reference point.

“We will then deploy the drones on an as-needed basis to farms from time to time to collect data — like the height of crops, flowering pattern, pest infestation, and so on — and cross-reference this information with what already exists in the database.”

This way, farmers and Government extension officers can draw up accurate patterns on expected yields and which parts of the farms need what type of pesticides.

A pilot run for the project will be deployed in the maize-growing areas of Kitale with a group of large-scale commercial farmers.

“This is as yet an experimental project, but we expect to scale it up and package it as a viable opportunity for both investors and farmers because the potential is practically limitless,” said Nderu.

The drones in the project, dubbed Kilimo Smart, can carry about one kilogramme of equipment, and can fly over a 10km radius at 10 metres per second.

The current price for one drone is Sh1 million, but the researchers are hoping partnerships with local investors and farmers’ co-operative societies will lower the costs for individual farmers.

High-speed Internet

Drones, or un-manned aerial vehicles, have had a bad reputation because of their military applications, which have been further reinforced by sci-fi and action movies.

Although the first remote-piloted aircraft was developed as early as 1935, it was not until the turn of the century that digital automation, high-speed Internet and high-resolution imaging enabled researchers develop miniaturised and versatile drones. Drones today serve various purposes including delivery of packages by e-commerce department stores.

The use of drones in developing countries is still bound by regulations, particularly deployment in urban areas. South Africa banned them two months ago pending the development of legislation to govern use.

In Kenya, drones fall under the administrative domain of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), but are still unregulated.