Damage from the ban on flights of agricultural drones may exceed 2.4 billion rubles

Restrictions on commercial drone flights in more than 30 regions will hurt agriculture. Maxim Chizhov, CEO of Agrimax Aero, a manufacturer of agricultural drones, told Vedomosti that the total losses for the agricultural sector, as well as for manufacturers and operators of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for agriculture in 2023, could amount to 2.4 billion rubles. According to Pavel Plakhotny, Deputy General Director of Industrial Drones, the amount of losses for agricultural drone manufacturers could be even higher – about 5.6 billion rubles, if forestry is also taken into account.

Now BAS are used in the cultivation of rice, sunflower, rapeseed, corn and other crops, Chizhov listed. In particular, drones are being used for sowing, pesticide treatments, applying biostimulants and desiccation (dehydration) before harvesting, he explained. For example, in the Krasnodar Territory, where restrictions were imposed on UAS flights, out of 90,000 hectares of rice, more than 30,000 hectares had to be processed with the help of drones, Chizhov cited the data. The restrictions will lead to problems for rice growers, lower revenues for UAS manufacturers and downtime for operating companies, the expert is sure. A similar situation is now with the feeding of winter crops, which were scheduled for April in the Central Black Earth region, he added.