TERNOPIL, Ukraine – A total fleet of 100 units of drone sprayers has been recently fulfilled by XAG, making it the single largest order of drones for agricultural use in the history of Ukraine. XAG has been working with local businesses to meet the rapidly increasing demand for drone spraying service. The technology is believed to boost crop yields and lower the input costs due to high fuel prices. An adequate provision of such autonomous equipment can help farmers better prepare the upcoming agricultural season.
DroneUA, XAG’s local partner and the main integrator of unmanned solutions in Ukraine, makes the fulfilment of this large-scale order successful. The first batch of 50 XAG Agricultural Drones has been handled over to Robotic Agrosystems, which is one of the largest service companies of its kind in Ukraine, with the remaining 50 to be delivered over the next few months.
In a few weeks, 59 mobile crews formed by precision farming specialists of Robotic Agrosystems, will start to learn operating the drones on farms and provide spraying services to farmers from all over Ukraine. It is estimated that XAG’s drone fleet of 100 units will cultivate more than 500 thousand hectares of crops in the 2022 farming season.
Among all the drone units, 60% of them are the XAG V40 Agricultural Drone, a new generation model that has been available for global sales. Designed in the two-rotor structure, this unmanned aerial system can be equipped with three different task systems that allow users to conduct mapping, broadcast, and crop spraying operations. The XAG V40 is electric powered as a sustainable alternative to the traditional fossil fired machinery.
The introduction of XAG’s agricultural drone into Ukraine’s fertile lands has been in full swing since 2021. With the precision spraying technology, the XAG drones were used on farm for various applications, from weeding, fertilization, pest and disease control to desiccation. The technology has also served a diversity of major crops, such as wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower, that constitute the cornerstone of the country’s agricultural export.
As the world’s breadbasket and major exports of grain and oilseeds, Ukraine is now having a good start in the intensive use of agricultural drones. The market has been witnessing the rise of drone service teams which will continue to increase in number and scale. Farmers are searching for cost-saving, nimble tools to manage crops against the background of rising fuel prices and climate change.
Prolonged rains, after which farmers could not enter the field with ground vehicle, and farmers’ understanding of justified savings contributed to the surge of drone spraying orders. The agricultural drone is gaining more popularity among Ukrainian farmers, because of its autonomous operation to relieve human labour and precision application to cut down the use of pesticides.
According to Igor Tchaikovsky, the owner of Robotic Agrosystems, last year their team cultivated 10,000 hectares of land even with a much smaller XAG drone fleet and received positive feedback from customers.
“The crews worked very intensively during the last season and almost around the clock. But we were still forced to turn down most of our customers because demands exceeded our technical capabilities. Therefore, investing in so many drones is not an impulsive decision. The market is growing and will continue to thrive at times,” said by Tchaikovsky.
