Drone spraying for rice
Flooded paddies make knapsack spraying slow and exhausting. A drone covers the same plots without anyone stepping into the mud.
When a drone helps most
- When brown planthopper or blast has to be treated across a whole irrigation block at once.
- Top dressing once the crop has closed and is hard to walk through.
- Broadcasting seed for direct seeded rice (tabela).
Evidence from the field
IPB University compared drones with knapsack sprayers in Bogor paddies: drone work time was 0.61 to 0.66 hours per hectare, manual spraying 5.28 to 5.39 hours per hectare. The researchers also found spray distribution from the drone more even.
Working with farmer groups
A single paddy block usually has many owners. We work with the group leader or gapoktan to set a schedule and make sure every owner agrees before the drone takes off.