In a trial conducted in Dianjiang County, Chongqing, a solution was needed for efficient and effective plant protection across a large Sichuan pepper orchard.
The trial was conducted on an 800-mu orchard of 4-year-old Jiuyeqing Sichuan pepper trees. A EAVISION E-A2020 (All-Terrain Edition) drone was used to conduct two applications based on two distinct trial protocols.
For the 800-mu pepper orchard, the EAVISION E-A2020 drone delivered remarkable improvements in efficiency compared to traditional manual methods:
In terms of economic benefits, the manual crop protection service fee for the 800-mu Sichuan pepper base is RMB 115,200 / year, while the EAVISION E-A2020 (All-Terrain Edition) annual cost is RMB 39,600 / year; using drone plant protection allows for the recovery of the machine purchase cost in the current year with an additional saving of RMB 31,600, saves RMB 75,600 in manual plant protection fees annually thereafter, and can save RMB 182,800 / 800 mu over 3 years.
Furthermore, drone-based crop protection surpasses manual methods in critical areas such as precision, application consistency, spray efficacy, and operator safety. This modern approach enables timely pest and disease control while reducing both pesticide use and crop damage.
Data from the EAVISION E-A2020's operations can be collected and monitored in real-time, greatly improving pest and disease management. Over time, the accumulated data forms a valuable big data asset that can be used for the digital management of local agriculture.
This leads to significant, long-term benefits, including:
⦁ Reduced pesticide use and crop losses
⦁ Energy savings and environmental protection
⦁ Increased farmer income
⦁ Enhanced food safety