Asian farmers turn to drones, apps for labour, climate challenges

Drones to plant seeds, and spray pesticide and fertilisers are growing in popularity in Thailand as it grapples with a labour shortage that worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on movement of workers. — Business photo created by user6702303 - www.freepik.com

BAN MAI, Thailand: As a child, Manit Boonkhiew watched his grandparents plough their rice farm near Bangkok with water buffaloes, and harvest by hand. His parents switched to tractors and threshers, while he now uses a zippy drone to spray pesticide in his field.

Manit, who grows rice, orchids and fruit trees on about 40 acres (16 hectares) of land in Ban Mai, is part of a community enterprise that recently acquired a drone under a Thai government programme to digitise agriculture.