Last year, agrodrones were used in the treatment of less than 30 thousand hectares. Operators of this market of agro-technological services note that the demand for the use of drones has been steadily growing in recent years.
According to Denis Cerulnic, director of Biotron Corp S.R.L., a company specializing in providing farmers with complex solutions for the integration of drones in agriculture in the Republic of Moldova, agrodrones are especially indispensable for quality agrochemical protection of farmland after precipitation. Self-propelled or trailed sprayers cannot enter the field because the soil is too wet, and time may be lost. The second half of spring this year was relatively rainy, which prompted farmers to make more use of drone spraying services.
“The experience of our company shows that if last year one drone of the largest model accounted for about 1.5-2 thousand treated hectares per season, this year such an area was covered by a drone in May alone,” says Denis Cerulnik.
According to expert estimates, the fleet of agricultural drones of various modifications in RM exceeds a hundred units. Most of the drones are concentrated in two or three companies that provide services for monitoring and sanitation of agricultural lands. However, an increasing number of large companies prefer to purchase agrodrones to provide themselves with flexibility in carrying out protective measures – both by ground equipment and by aircraft.
