China's SZ DJI Technology Co., the world's top consumer-drone
maker, is setting its sights on the agriculture industry with the
launch of a crop sprayer that will test whether farming is fertile
ground for drone technology.
DJI, which helped kick-start the global craze for drones with
its $1,000 easy-to-fly devices, will on Friday unveil an
eight-rotor drone priced at roughly $15,000 that is designed to
spray pesticides on crops, a spokesman said. DJI said the drone,
which has a 2.6-gallon spray tank and a typical takeoff weight of
49 pounds, can fly for about 12 minutes.
It can spray pesticides on seven to 10 acres of farmland per
hour, depending on how much it needs to climb, descend or turn to
follow the terrain.
The battery-powered DJI Agras MG-1 will be available first in
China and South Korea, though the company didn't specify exactly
when it would go on sale. In China, DJI is taking preorders
starting on Friday. The drone is expected to be available in other
markets later, the company said.
Shenzhen-based DJI has found success selling drones to consumers
and filmmakers since 2013, with revenue expected to exceed $1
billion this year.
The company, which is valued at roughly $8 billion based on its
latest funding round, is now betting it can parlay that success
into farming. Its push into the sector could open the way for other
drone makers—or prove that agriculture isn't the cornucopia for
unmanned aircraft that some had hoped.
The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the
largest drone trade group, has touted farming as the biggest
potential market for drones, by far. In a 2013 report, the
Arlington, Va.-based group forecast that agriculture would account
for 92% of an estimated $82 billion economic impact from commercial
drones in the U.S. between 2015 and 2025.
But even as the commercial use of drones has taken off
world-wide, agriculture is far from capturing such a large share of
the market. Fewer companies are applying for U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration approvals to use drones on farms than for activities
such as filmmaking, mapping and industrial inspection, according to
recent studies.
The FAA began regularly approving drones for commercial use in
September 2014. Just 90 of the FAA's first 1,355 approvals were for
agriculture, according to Piper Jaffray Investment Research—well
behind the 670 approvals for aerial filming. The FAA has approved
most applications it receives.
Much of the promise for agricultural drones has been in their
ability to collect large-scale aerial data on crops. The
information helps farmers more precisely tend to their fields,
adding or reducing irrigation or pesticides where necessary. So
far, agricultural drones have failed to live up to their promise
because giving farmers actionable data on their crops is far more
complex than making a map or filming a movie, analysts said.
Commercial-drone maker Kespry Inc., based in Menlo Park, Calif.,
said it originally considered targeting agriculture as its top
initial market, but ultimately decided on construction.
"To serve that market we need real expertise—agronomists who can
combine the data with information on weather and local pests, and
provide real recommendations," said Kespry founder and Chief
Executive Paul Doersch. "For us to scale it didn't make sense."
Despite the complexities, DJI isn't the only drone maker betting
on farming to diversify its revenue stream. Henri Seydoux, CEO of
Paris-based Parrot SA, which has quickly captured the lower end of
the consumer-drone market, said his company will collect data on
200,000 acres for farmers in France this year. Still, commercial
drones earned Parrot just €5.6 million ($6 million) in the third
quarter, compared with €44.4 million on consumer drones.
Agricultural drones "are at an early phase," Mr. Seydoux said.
"It's true for all the commercial spaces. There is a lot of
expectation but still not a big result."
DJI is making a different bet on agriculture: spraying crops
instead of inspecting them. In China, chemicals are often
administered on foot by backpack-wielding workers. Drones would
improve pesticide application on hilly or wet land that is
difficult to access and would limit farmworkers' exposure to
chemicals, said Even Pay, a Beijing-based agriculture consultant
who has studied Chinese farming methods.
Japanese farmers have used large gasoline-powered unmanned
helicopters made by Yamaha Corp. since the early 1990s to spray
their fields. Yamaha began selling the drones to farmers in South
Korea in 2005.
The FAA in May approved the drone for limited use in the U.S.,
and the company is considering whether to introduce it in the
country.
Analysts said DJI's crop-spraying drone will likely struggle to
win over Western farmers who generally tend to larger areas. Large
U.S. farms have for decades used small planes that can carry
hundreds of gallons of pesticide to spray their fields. The planes
are efficient at covering large areas and relatively inexpensive to
hire.
Robert Blair, an Idaho farmer and vice president of agriculture
for commercial-drone company Measure LLC, said he is bullish on
drones that collect data on crops but skeptical about crop-spraying
drones like DJI's that can carry only a few gallons of
pesticide.
"It's a niche market," he said.
Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell @wsj.com and Jack
Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 26, 2015 19:45 ET (00:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.