Danish drones cut pesticide use by up to 90 percent

A Danish farm has slashed its pesticide use by 90 percent on a 10-hectare field by using drones to map weeds and direct sprayers only where needed, DR reports.

Christian Holm, assistant operations manager at JSJ-agro, which cultivates over 1,000 hectares for clients including Birkelse Estate, recently acquired a drone to identify weed growth. The data is fed into a field sprayer that targets only infested areas.

“This gives us unique opportunities to reduce chemical use,” Holm said. “It’s good for the environment, and it also lets us produce crops more cheaply.”

Despite the cost of drone mapping and data processing, Holm calculates a net financial gain. Pesticides are a major expense for JSJ-agro, exceeding labor costs.

More than half of Denmark’s drinking water wells now contain pesticide residues, with 14 percent exceeding safety limits, according to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). René Gislum, section head at Aarhus University’s Department of Agroecology, said reduced pesticide use directly benefits drinking water quality.

“If we use less pesticide, less ends up in our drinking water,” Gislum said. He estimates the technology could cut agricultural pesticide use by 50–75 percent nationwide and may see widespread adoption within five years.

Aarhus-based firm Crop Up developed the drone-based weed detection system, analyzing over 20,000 hectares of farmland last year.