On June 30, 2016, Embrapa announced a partnership with the North American mobile technology company Qualcomm and the Institute of Solidarity Socioeconomics (ISES) to create the Technology Development Program for the use of drones in precision agriculture. This partnership also aims to bring drones to small rural producers.
According to Ladislau Martin, Research and Development director at Embrapa, “Our ambition is to develop efficient, low-cost equipment that helps cause social and economic impacts, mainly in family farming.”
Drone prices in the Brazilian market range from R$ 9,000.00 to R$ 300,000.00, and according to Lúcio André de Castro Jorge, a researcher at Embrapa Instrumentation, the expectation is to develop the drone and all the technological apparatus at a much lower cost, so that they can be bought for at least R$ 5,000.00.
The project will be carried out at the National Reference Laboratory in Precision Agriculture (LANAPRE), in the city of São Carlos – SP, which will be responsible for developing the onboard system for drones.
Read the full article at the link: Revista Globo Rural
Reviewed by Silvia Cristina VieiraPublished by Leonardo Felipe Franchi
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