Drones growing as a tool on California farms

This picture taken on April 15, 2014 shows a man controlling a drone to spray pesticides on a farm in Bozhou, central China's Anhui province. China's economy expanded 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first three months of the year, the government said Wednesday, marking a further slowing in the world's second-largest economy. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO

Bay Area techies aren't the only ones experimenting with drones and robots. Farmers just a few hours away have begun using the machines to spray crops with pesticides, gather data, track crop health and find water leaks on their land. 

These early adopters are among a growing class of farmers who are using emerging robotics technologies in what some researchers believe will balloon from a US$3bil (RM12.24bil) segment of the agriculture industry to a US$10bil (RM40.84bil) market over the next six years.