The latest projections by South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee have presented the sad reality that the 2024 harvest season is likely to drop to around 13,26 million tonnes, down from 16,43 million tonnes in the previous season. The current drought gripping Southern Africa’s farming community, as well as the effects of climate change, unprecedented inflation and rising energy costs, will drive farmers to look more aggressively at innovative solutions to adapt their practices based on intelligent solutions and high-quality data.
In addition to potential relief packages to help minimise losses for farmers, the Department of Agriculture, land reform and rural development has already begun enhancing research and development to improve logistics, safety and quality of agricultural products.
Some of these projects identified include more effective management of pests and disease, irrigation schemes and an accelerate transfer of technology to enhance the efficiencies of crop production, animal health and management of natural resources.
A core function in this process will be the ability to assess, monitor and respond to changes across large stretches of land, often in hostile terrain not easily accessible..
The ability to rapidly cover great distances and collect data, (like photographic and infrared images, as well soil, air and water samples), will be increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled systems and unmanned vehicles. While land rovers may also be used, the biggest opportunity lies in the ability of the agricultural sector to effectively deploy aerial drones to collect this data.
However the problem lies with the current state of South Africa, that is grappling with a shortage of skilled drone pilots and maintenance technicians, especially those with a working understanding of the agricultural sector.
According to The International Trade Administration, South Africa already has by far the most modern, productive and diverse agricultural economy on the continent. However, there still remains huge scope for digitalisation to unlock agricultural prospects, including data management, machine learning, automation and drone-based applications to alleviate the vulnerability of crops and livestock to shifting environmental patterns.
Encouragingly, the ITA observes that there are very few barriers to bringing new equipment to the South African market, as equipment like planters, sprayers and tiling equipment already enter duty, provided the same product is not manufactured in the country.
When it comes to drones, equipment needs to be acquired, operated, and maintained, and the data needs to be collected, interpreted and presented in ways that can lead to better decision-making in the short-and-long terms.
This presents enormous opportunity to develop a new technology sub-sector that not only ensures sustainability and expansion of agriculture, ensuring food security and bringing down food prices for all consumers, but also creates massive jobs and skills development opportunities in a fast-growing industry.
Rectron, a leading technology distributor in sub-Saharan, has made significant investments in the burgeoning drone industry through its Drone Academy, launched last year, as well as a partnership with NTSU aviation to develop skills and technical capacity.
Through a solid understanding of the worldwide drone industry, as well as its unique evolution in South Africa, these investments will play a key role in ensuring targeted deployment and application of drones across all sectors, especially agriculture.