Application of Drone Technology in Agriculture: A Predictive Forecasting of Pest and Disease Incidence

Introduction

Growing crops is a lovely pastime that makes a farmer delighted for producing a new life. Despite its attractiveness, crop cultivation necessitates a variety of agricultural tasks and ongoing upkeep in order to provide better and healthy output. (López-Morales et al., 2020). It is estimated that the world's population will reach nine billion by 2050, and we have to increase our production to 50% to feed the population. Currently, more than 815 million people worldwide are starving, with Asia accounting for more than half of them. Consequently, in the coming years, food production requires a boost of nearly 70% to 80% (Joshi et al., 2020; Vandana et al., 2020).

The drone is the latest technology which has been introduced and can help in achieving the aim. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are another term for drones (UAV) are generally remote-controlled aircraft with no pilots on board. They fly over the fields at low altitudes and capture whole data (Petkovic et al., 2017). They are rapidly evolving, replacing satellites and aircraft. They can capture high-quality images at cheap prices that satellites cannot do. They generally run on battery or fuel (Prasanna et al., 2020). They are being used in various fields including military, agriculture, film industry, humanitarian relief etc. Drones have initiated a technological revolution in the agriculture sector (Negash et al., 2019; Sharma, 2021). They can gather large volumes of spatial data. The usage of drones in the area of agriculture is rising especially crop production, early warning, forestry, fisheries etc. They are so efficient that they can gather whole soil data without even touching the soil (Arokiaraj et al., 2020b; Ren et al., 2020; Reger et al., 2018). Drones these days are equipped with modern technologies like navigation, controls, imaging, sensing etc. They are also being used for predictive forecasts of pests and diseases, spraying fertilizers and pesticides (Barasa et al., 2021; David, 2020b). However, with the advancement of technology, they are also being used in the whole production process from land preparation to harvesting (Muraru et al., 2019). Early insect identification can minimise output loss by up to 40%, based on crop species and growth stage (Ahirwar et al., 2019). As a result, farmers must devote their whole attention to crop monitoring (Srivastava, 2020). Rather than trekking around the field, farmers may now utilise technology such as drones to inspect their crops more quickly and correctly (Banumathi & Arokiaraj, 2011; Bhardwaj et al., 2021; Rejeb et al., 2022).

Drone technology is an invention that is having a far-reaching impact on today's society, affecting our lives as well as business (Nayyar et al., 2020). Farmers may now boost their efficiency in some elements of the agricultural development, such as planting, crop monitoring, crop spraying, irrigation, mapping, and livestock management, thanks to high-tech drones (Pathak et al., 2020; Ben Ayed et al., 2021; Rachmawati et al., 2021). This farming method is built on seeing, measuring, and acting on real-time crop data. It eliminates a contemporary agriculture and gives farmers the option to maximise harvests and increase crop production (Klauser & Pauschinger, 2021; Ganeshkumar et al., 2022). The cost of agricultural drones has drastically decreased in recent years, resulting in an explosion of drones and their application in agriculture (Veroustraete, 2015). In the recent years, the agricultural drone industry is forecasted that 38% will be increased with the use of drones. Agricultural drones have a variation in the applications, including: