The rapid population growth of our planet in recent decades necessitates increased food production. However, the extensive method of increasing food production by expanding arable land is not realistically feasible. The lack or incompleteness of knowledge about soil and crop conditions, weather patterns, improper or incomplete utilization of the potential of plant protection products (PPPs), irrigation issues, errors in yield forecasting, and insufficient information on market trends contribute to losses and additional costs for farmers. The use of precision agriculture technologies helps address these and many other challenges. In recent years, the global agricultural community has increasingly adopted precision agriculture technologies, enabling optimal productivity from every field, reduced costs, ecological sustainability, and environmental protection. Modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) not only provide up-to-date information on the condition and growth dynamics of crops, shrubs, and trees but also perform protective treatment of fields and perennial plantations with pesticides. Contemporary UAVs are equipped with multispectral cameras whose high-quality imaging allows for precise identification of problematic areas in agricultural lands. Additionally, these UAVs are outfitted with systems for chemical application. One of the pressing issues in modern agriculture is reducing the use of pesticides and biopreparations while simultaneously increasing their effectiveness. The advantage of using UAVs for pesticide application lies in their high precision, avoidance of crop damage, prevention of soil compaction, reduced plant protection costs, and more. UAVs perform spraying along pre-determined routes, avoiding overlap strips and untreated areas, as is often the case with tractor sprayers not equipped with GPS systems.
Zatserkovny et al. (Tue,) studied this question.