Most fundamentally, technologies used to protect crops against pests directly contribute to food security for the most vulnerable. Without these products and innovations, annual crop losses would likely double.
In particular, drones can help identify pest threats more effectively than a farmer relying on manual monitoring and surveillance, which gives farmers a head start in mounting a defense and saving more of their crops. With this data, drones can also deliver the right treatment in the right place at the right time to safeguard crops, resulting in the potential for higher yields, which bolsters food security in developing regions
Beyond food and nutrition security, innovations in crop protection also improve rural livelihoods and lives. As well as potentially boosting productivity and therefore incomes, drones can help reduce costs to smallholder farmers. Under an affordable farm service model involving drone sprayer providers, for example, farmers can access a lower-cost way of applying pesticides than expensive conventional applications by airplane or tractor.
Drones are also up to 50 times faster than the typical backpack sprayer, reducing exposure to chemical products and time spent on spraying.
