In agriculture production system, weeds are the undesirable plants that can significantly reduce the crop yield by competing with crops for natural resources. Therefore, timely weed management is crucial for higher crop productivity. Different methods are practiced to control weeds viz., cultural, physical, chemical, machines, artificial intelligence and sustainable strategies. Among all those methods, chemical method is mostly adopted in crop production for effective management of weeds. Conventionally, the herbicides are applied through knapsack sprayer. However, it encompasses several limitations such as scarcity of farm labour and high risk of exposure to herbicides, which affect the human health. Moreover, knapsack sprayer consumes more time, labour, water, energy and toils for herbicide application. To reduce the excess use of resources, drones are the alternative option for herbicide application, which requires less resource. A drone is also equipped with a camera and various sensors. These can be used to identify areas where weeds are growing and to control weeds in a site-specific manner. Therefore, by using a drone for weed control, it is possible to reduce human labour, time, energy and herbicides, while reducing environmental pollution and ensuring sustainable weed management.
Sangothari, A., Radhamani, S., Nagarajan, K., 2026. Drone technology: The future of weed management. Biotica Research Today 8(6), 91-93.
Drone, Energy saving, Site-specific herbicide application, Sustainable weed management
Daramola, O.S., Butts, T.R., Virk, S., Gurjar, B., Torres, U., Bagavathiannan, M., Dille, J.A., Obour, A.K., Kouame, K.B.J., 2026. Drone-based herbicide application: Opportunities and challenges. Weed Technology 40, e25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/wet.2026.10088.
Esposito, M., Crimaldi, M., Cirillo, V., Sarghini, F., Maggio, A., 2021. Drone and sensor technology for sustainable weed management: A review. Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture 8(1), 18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-021-00217-8.
Gupta, R., Singh, J., Gupta, A.K., Yaduvanshi, N., 2022. Application of drones in agriculture in India. Biotica Research Today 4(10), 683-686.
Roslim, M.H.M., Juraimi, A.S., Che’Ya, N.N., Sulaiman, N., Manaf, M.N.H.A., Ramli, Z., Motmainna, M., 2021. Using remote sensing and an unmanned aerial system for weed management in agricultural crops: A review. Agronomy 11(9), 1809. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091809.
Zhang, J., Yu, F., Zhang, Q., Wang, M., Yu, J., Tan, Y., 2024. Advancements of UAV and deep learning technologies for weed management in farmland. Agronomy 14(3), 494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14030494.
