According to the report of Nihon Keizai Shimbun on February 10, Japan is using small UAVs to develop cutting-edge agriculture. Previously, it was mainly used to spray pesticides on crops such as rice. Now, Tokyo and three other counties have used the characteristics of drones to conduct experiments such as taste analysis, remote monitoring, and transportation. The expansion of drone applications is expected to bring about high precision and sophistication in agriculture.
Quanqiao Brewery Company, located in Hiromi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, operates multiple businesses ranging from rice cultivation to Japanese wine brewing. Since 2020, the company has collaborated with the Kanagawa Prefecture Industrial Technology Comprehensive Research Institute to use drones to assess the growth and quality of rice wine. The president of the company, Yuichi Hashimoto, stated that he hopes to use drones to brew high-quality Japanese wine.
Previously, the company used inspections and visual inspections to assess the growth of summer wine and rice, in order to adjust fertilizer usage. However, the total planting area of the company and contracted farmers currently reaches 46 hectares, making it difficult to make specific adjustments based on the growth of each piece of rice. Therefore, the company has introduced drones equipped with high-definition 4K cameras and near-infrared cameras.
This type of drone can take large-scale aerial photos during flight, using near-infrared cameras to determine the strength of plant photosynthesis and make accurate judgments on the amount of fertilizer required for each field.
In addition, some regions have started using drones for remote technical guidance. Since the summer of 2022, NTT East and the Tokyo Metropolitan Agriculture and Forestry Research Center have been conducting experiments using drones to remotely manage greenhouse crops.
Researchers have built a greenhouse covered by a local 5G network at the Central Training Center of Japan Telecom Telephone Company, equipped with small drones. The footage captured by the drone is first transmitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Agriculture and Forestry Comprehensive Research Center, and then experienced technicians provide remote guidance to the growers.
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