This will solve many problems that arise in everyday life on agricultural farms in Africa
South African farmers are following the global trend of using field robots, intelligent automation solutions and drones in agribusiness. This is reported in the report of the analytical agency GlobalData “Modern robotics in agriculture.”
Kobus Visser, Head of Rural Security at Agri SA, stressed that the introduction of this approach and the increase in the number of unmanned aerial vehicles and agro-robots used in the fields “will solve many problems that arise in everyday life on agro-farms in Africa.”
According to a GlobalData report, global sales of field robots reached US$1.1 billion in 2020. Experts predict that by 2030 they will amount to 11 billion US dollars. The statistics also confirm the demand for commercial drones in the agro-industrial complex, which is also part of this industry.
Christian Giesel, head of marketing at Syngenta in South Africa, assured that drones have not yet reached the level of reliability when they can be used to spray crops without human control, but in South Africa such systems and technologies are already being used and showing good results.
An additional incentive for development will be a change in the current legislation. It will now allow South African farmers to use crop protection products and chemicals by drones and field robots.
Syngenta is expected to become Africa’s flagship robotics company, but agrees with CropLife South Africa’s official stance that there is still room for growth and that drones cannot yet be used for general agrochemical applications. This will be a step by step process.
