Russian Farm Explores Use of XAG Agricultural Drones to Boost Rice Yield
KRASNODAR, Russia, Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In the South of Russia, XAG's agricultural drone has been introduced to the full cycle of rice cultivation. It brings new hope to farmers as the use of drone demonstrates the potential to reduce the cost of rice production and gain additional profitability. Facing the relatively tight water shortage, drone technology from XAG can help Russian farmers obtain decent yield and support the expansion of rice field territories.
XAG, a global leader of agri-tech innovations, has been scaling up its agricultural drones in rice growing across China, Japan, and Vietnam. While Russia contributes to over 10% of the world's grain exports and doubled its rice production, XAG entered the Russian market in 2021 to provide local farmers with autonomous precision farming tools.
Under the observation of Kuban State University, XAG's Russian partner DSK Supply initiated a project in Krasnodar Province to cultivate rice crops using drones from XAG. The aim of the project was to verify that rice fields can be farmed more precisely using less agrochemical with the help of XAG drones. The effectiveness of agricultural drones was tested at different growth stages including seeding, crop spraying, and fertilizer spread.
To run the field trial, a flooded rice paddy on an area of 5.7 hectares was selected for drone applications in Russia's Krasnodar during the last farming season. With bumps, ditches and tractor tracks on the site, the pock-marked test field made it difficult to seed rice crops by hand.
The XAG Agricultural Drone, a multifunctional unmanned aerial vehicle, was equipped with the JetSeed spreader coming to the rescue of farm workers. It could fly freely over the unstable cultivated land and evenly distribute the seeds at target areas.
After the drone pilot entered the sowing parameters into the smartphone, the germinated seeds were poured into the container and the sowing began with ease. Compared to manual seeding, the XAG Agricultural Drone could navigate itself at centimeter level and significantly save operation time.
When the germinated seeds grew into the new rice shoots, the drone was also used to spray crop protection agents for weed management at night. Since the herbicides can rapidly break down through exposure to open sunlight, the XAG Agricultural Drone becomes the best option for rice farmers to make protective agents work to the full capacity.
Connecting to the RTK network, the drone with XAG's patented intelligent atomization spraying technology could allow for higher precision as well as better penetration into the bottom plant layer. According to the feedback from agronomists, this method helped to reduce chemical consumption by 30% and save water by up to 90%.
Next season, it is expected that Russian farmers are going to conduct a larger experiment with new norms, new varieties of rice and new conditions. XAG and its local partners will expand the range of possibilities of autonomous drone technology to improve the resilience of agriculture.
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