July 2021
The 15 Acres orchards are certified orange demo orchards by Syngenta Group China in Wuming, Guangxi.
Efficiency takes off, drones fly into Syngenta orchards
Since this year, the plant protection management of the demonstration garden has ushered in a new change.
There are more than 5,000 trees in the 15 acres orchard. One DJI T20 and one DJI T30 can complete the pesticide application of the 80-mu orchard in 4 hours.
The biggest feeling that the new changes brought to the technical director of Syngenta Orchard, Mr. Li, was, “The efficiency has improved too much!”
The high efficiency of drone operations is particularly important in the rainy season. From April to August, Wuming has frequent rainfall and a short window period. If it rains within 4 hours of spraying, the efficacy of the chemical will be greatly reduced.
If you use a drone, it only takes half a sunny day to complete all the work. “Technical guide Mr. Li said.
The high efficiency of drones can also effectively solve the current shortage of manpower for orchard spraying and the problem of manpower being easily poisoned.
Canker, leaf miner, T30 control is fast and good
In addition to efficiency, what Mr. Li is most concerned about is the control effect of drones on citrus pests and diseases.
The Syngenta Orange Demonstration field has been exploring the operation plan of combining chemicals and drones. From March to now, a total of 8 flight defenses have been carried out.
“Currently, the use of drones to spray with suitable pesticides can effectively control leaf miners, thrips, aphids, and cankers,” said Ye, technical manager of Syngenta Guangxi.
T20 / T30 canker and leafminer control parameters
| Drone model | T20 | Speed | 1.4M/S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixture per acre | 48L/acre | Row distance | 3.5M |
| Speed | 6M/S | Nozzle | XR11001VS |
| Operation Mode | Fully autonomous planning operation |
| Drone model | T30 | Speed | 1.8M/S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixture per acre | 48L/acre | Row distance | 3.5M |
| Speed | 6M/S | Nozzle | XR11001VS |
| Operation Mode | Fully autonomous planning operation |
Canker and leaf miners are common pests and diseases on citrus, which often occur together and spread very fast. Failure to prevent and control them in time will have a great impact on fruit yield and quality.
“This year in Wuming, there was a lot of rain, which coincided with the high incidence of ulcer disease. Some orchards did not catch up with the sunny days and could only watch the ulcers slowly rise, causing great losses.” Li said.
If you use a drone and choose the right pesticide, you can quickly control it in a short window period. The liquid sprayed by DJI T30 can reach the middle and lower layers of the periphery of fruit trees along the wind field, quickly and effectively curbing the spread of canker and leaf miners.
In the picture, the left side of the road is the orchard operated by DJI Agras drones, and the right side is the orchard operated by traditional method. It can be seen that the growth on the left side is significantly better than that on the right side.
Reduce pesticides by 30%, significantly reduce orchard management costs
After experiencing the efficiency and effect of DJI drones in managing orchards, orchard managers also found that this year’s chemical cost was reduced compared with previous years. “After the use of drones, the number of chemicals in the orchard (influenced by the market), the amount of chemicals, and labor costs are all reduced this year.”
According to a rough calculation, for a 15 acres orchard, the use of pesticides by drones is 25%-30% less than that of manual labor, and the water consumption is saved by more than 95%. Overall, it is more cost-effective.
The agriculture drone operation has a strong wind field that uses a small amount of water to drive the liquid to cover the peel and leaves. Compared with the traditional method, which needs to irrigate fruit trees from top to bottom, resulting in waste of liquid medicine, the utilization rate of the chemical in drone operation is higher.
“Traditional spraying uses a lot of water. Last year, it was because the spraying was too intense and the fruit area was too watery, which caused pesticide damage and resulted in a lot of spotted fruit.” Technical guide Li said, “The atomization of the drone is fine, and it is not easy to produce The accumulation of water forms medicinal spots, which can improve the quality of the fruit.” The savings from drones are not only cost but more protection of orchards and the environment.
The Syngenta Orange Demonstration field uses DJI drones for plant protection, which further affirms that drone operation is the future trend. Under the problems of labor shortage, low labor efficiency, and labor safety, we need more excellent chemicals and advanced machines to jointly promote the mechanization and modernization of orchard plant protection.