The Need for Legislation for Agricultural Drones

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Marcelo Drescher | marcelodrescher@gmail.com

My consultancy activities with ag-aviation companies allows contact with the demands of the agricultural sector regarding the use of agricultural aviation technology. Thus, I have experiences in the simultaneous use of airplanes and drones in the task of spraying crops. First, it is necessary to highlight that such technologies do not effectively compete for the same application areas. Drones used with a maximum takeoff weight of 25 kg do not have competitive operational performance with typical agricultural aircraft. Drones are an excellent tool to replace operations with back pack sprayers, for example. They are efficient in meeting other demands such as spraying small properties, seedling nurseries, launching inputs that require low quantity per hectare, or coverage difficult to reach areas that in Brazil cannot be serviced by airplanes or helicopters; assuming the swath and droplet sizes are precise.

However, what I perceive today is a lack of regulations for the agricultural operation of drones is beginning to cause some concerns. Ag-aviation services with airplanes, or helicopters, it is necessary to satisfy numerous regulations. For drone operators, few regulations, particularly for agricultural applications, are formally established.

To illustrate what I am talking about, at times I have witnessed agricultural drone operators spraying with total ignorance of the theory necessary to achieve good droplet coverage that defines effective spraying. This is because many operators of such equipment (not all, of course) are people with technical knowledge about basic drone operation. Perhaps they are excellent drone pilots, but are unaware of the theory that determines the quality and safety of a spray. This occurs due to the lack of specific legislation that will certainly define the registration of operators, their training, rules of operation, parameters and legal limits. Also, relevant aspects such as monitoring and technical responsibility, the training of equipment operators and operational limits (restricted areas) that define the safety of procedures in relation to third parties. We should not forget that we are talking about operations that involve the use of pesticides.

The reason for the urgent implementation of a standard is to avoid damage to the agricultural sector by inadequate applications that have enormous negative economic potential. In addition, is the importance of regulations for the prevention of environmental and human health impacts. As it stands today, there is potential for the flooding of the market by people or service providers not qualified for the task, which could bring great losses to agribusinesses.

Aside from the aforementioned facts, agricultural aviation is constantly exposed to the never ending campaign that some foment against aerial spraying. In addition to the ideological motivation, these anti ag-aviation activists will be nurtured with concrete arguments against the industry, given the glaring discrepancy in regulations that exist today.

The potential for the operation of drones used as spray aircraft is advancing at a fast pace. I reiterate that in no way do I dispute the need, usefulness and efficiency of the equipment (assuming the application pattern is precise). What I highlight here is the urgency in assigning standards to the operation of agricultural drones, as the delay in establishing such rules begins to open a reckless gap in a sector that requires high levels of specialization. We cannot allow different worlds to develop within the same domain. The quakes will be shared and will reach equally those who today invest in the technological development of all types of aerial spraying.

Marcelo Drescher is an agronomist with a Master of Science degree. He is a university professor, ergonomics and environmental business advisor, current ag-pilot instructor (+20 years) and Safety Operations Manager for agricultural aviation companies.