Student Creation: Drone to automatically fertilize & spray insecticide
Created by undergraduates on a project at Aviation Department, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Bach khoa) Image: TƯỜNG HÂN
A flying object that is capable of spraying insecticides, planting seeds, applying liquid or solid fertilizers. Sound like it’s good news to your farm care-taker?
Based on the insight that Vietnamese farmers often suffer from many crucial health problems due to physical exposure to chemicals to fulfill their everyday work on fields, Dr. Vu Ngoc Anh – lecturer of the Faculty of Transportation Engineering (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Bach khoa)) has led her students on researching and provided to all of us a solution.
“The main function of this is to spray insecticide. Yet it can be adjusted to perform planting seeds, applying liquid or solid fertilizers. The drone can carry up to 15kg of insecticide and can work on 0.5 to 1ha in 10 minutes”- Dr. Anh shared.
With small nozzles, the insecticide is dispersed into small drops: 10kg of solid fertilizer can be sprayed on 1ha which is 50 times more efficient than that of manual work, and 2-5 times more efficient than that of using tractors.
Height & route of spray can be controlled manually or programmed, with the height limit is 1,000 meters above sea level.
The drone is said to perform 2 to 5 times more efficiently than tractors.
With a price range from 150 to 300 million VND/drone, the product is suitable for large-size farms or agricultural areas.
Dr. Anh said, “This project still needs supporting from businesses & government by means of research, development, production capital, preferential taxes, preferential policies for science, technology and field trial. Yet, the potential to contribute to the society is undeniable”.
Writer: TƯỜNG HÂN (Tuoi Tre Newspaper)
