Researchers at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) are focusing on how the humble spud, one of the nation’s stable foods, can be watched from the sky as global heating looms.
Speaking at the Royal Highland Show, SRUC’s Simon Gibson-Poole will talk about how drones can be used to spot diseased potato plants: “Drones have been in the mainstream news for all the wrong reasons, with flights from Gatwick and Heathrow being delayed due to people flying drones over runways.
“However, drones can be used positively and specifically to aid agriculture and the environment. Out of the box, these drones can help speed up field walking due to the bird’s eye view they bring – reducing crop impact in the process; be used to inspect farm infrastructure, such as roofs and silos, that is difficult to get to; help identify the location of field drains; and even to round up livestock or scare geese off by attaching sirens to the drones.”
The use of drones and satellite-based imagery to support precision agriculture, and improve forecasts of wheat and potato crop yields, was also highlighted by researchers from the Advanced Technologies for Efficient Crop Management (ATEC) project – a collaboration between SRUC and the University of Edinburgh.
Photo caption: Drones can be used to aid agriculture and the environment
Photo Credit: SRUC