Agriculture Drones Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Agriculture Drones Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The agriculture drones market is projected to register a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period (2022-2027). Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, digitization was required in every sector. The pandemic has affected the morale of farmers worldwide. The month-long slump in food crop prices dropped the expectation of farmers to use agricultural drones, which can be attributed to adversely affected transportation systems and a lack of income being generated due to the lockdown. However, the drone market is gaining momentum, with the economies going back to normalcy. Many agri-tech companies came up with innovative models for easing the farming practices by focusing more on wireless platforms, like drone technology, to enable real-time decision making regarding yield monitoring, crop health monitoring, field mapping, irrigation scheduling, and harvesting management, to enhance the agricultural productivity.

North America and Europe are the largest and most advanced markets concerning the adoption of innovative technologies in agriculture. South America has the greatest potential for growth in this market. The presence of a large share of the agricultural area as fragmented holdings in Asia, especially in India, limits the potential growth of agricultural drones over the forecast period.

The concept of precision farming has many advantages for the agricultural sector. Different technologies, such as global positioning systems and guided vehicles, are being developed to create an era of precision farming. The rapid growth of the agricultural sector, which is inculcating technological innovations into its agricultural practices, will continue to drive the market for precision farming and agriculture drones. The labor shortage in agriculture, which decreased from 27.8% in 2017 to 26.7% in 2019, also led to more reliance on precision farming tools like agricultural drones.

In United States, larger farms are increasing their use of precision agriculture and overcoming technology barriers to implement practices. Fewer Mexican seasonal workers moved across the border during the pandemic, disrupting farms' plans for spring planting and bringing in crops ready for harvests, such as lettuce in California, berries in South Carolina, and tomatoes in Florida.

Using precision farming systems can increase yields by as much as 5%. Drones equipped with special imaging equipment called Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) use detailed color information to indicate plant health. Drones can also plant much more efficiently with a team of two operators, and 10 drones can plant 400,000 trees a day. With the increasing demand for food globally, there is constant pressure to increase agricultural productivity and maintain good crop health, which may lead to increased production.

North America is the largest and most advanced market concerning the adoption of innovative technologies in agriculture. North America has dominated the market in smart farming with new and advanced technologies and innovative ideas in the modern generation. It also improved more farm tools with the help of IoT and AI. Being an urbanized region, the farmers know how to use smartphones and the latest technologies. Farmers can determine the peak conditions of the plants in the field with the help of sensors.

Drones are also more applicable in North America for spraying purposes. The precision technique is useful for data collection of the plants in field conditions. United States is the early adopter of precision farming technologies, which is the primary factor responsible for the region’s most significant share in the global market. A considerable acceptance of modern agricultural methods by Canada is also contributing to the industry’s growth.

The agriculture drones market is highly fragmented, with the presence of many local and regional players and other international players. Relatively high capital requirements and the need for continuous R&D investments could affect new entrants. Thus, they need to contend with market incumbents due to their strong presence in several industries. Some of the players in the market are 3D Robotics Inc., AeroVironment, AgEagle LLC, DJI, and Trimble Navigation Limited.

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