Coffee and durian are two industrial plants widely grown in Vietnam as they bring sizable economic values to the country. Being the second most profitable agricultural produce in the export market, the annual profit brought by coffee in Vietnam ranges between 1 and 1.2 billion USD/year. In terms of durian, the fruit can not only be eaten fresh, but its leaves and trunks can also serve as the ingredient for food, medicines and home furniture. The economic value of durian can be increased if producers could achieve off-season planting.
Both plants are grown in the Southwest region and the Central Highlands of Vietnam, with large areas of steep slopes. The local farmers usually intercrop durian or pepper with coffee trees to improve land utilization efficiency.
Because of their high economic values, farmers attach great significance to prevention of plant disease and pest control during the cultivation process to increase the yield as well as save cost and manual labor. Bedbugs, ants and fungi are universal troubles that might occur during the cultivation process, which not only cause damages to stems, boughs and leaves, but also affect crop yield or even cause plant death.
The hilly terrain full of slopes makes pesticide spraying a difficult process when using manual labor. As an efficient agricultural tool, the DJI Agras drones have received an increasing number of compliments from local farmers in Vietnam. However, with the development of science and technology, drones have helped people overcome the inconvenience caused by hilly terrain and limitation of human labor etc.
Spray Four Hilly Plots Within Only 2.5 Days
Binh Thuan is located in the South eastern coast of Vietnam where intercropped durian and coffee can be seen. As a sun-loving plant with large canopy, durian tree create shades which are necessary for coffee trees and can absorb the excessive water and fertilizer, which explains why these two plants are a perfect match for intercropping.
In December 2022, during the harvest season of coffee and off-season durian, aphids the mountain orchards, which sucks the durian leaves and coffee leaves. AIRWORKS team, DJI’s partner in Vietnam, immediately arrived in Binh Thuan. The team consists of 2 pilots and is equipped with a DJI Agras T30 drone and in two and a half days, they completed the operation of a mountain orchard with a total area of 9.9 hectares separated by the water.
Spraying Environment & Drone Parameters
The spraying operation against aphids covered 4 plots ranging from 1.8ha to 3.2ha, which are located on different hills. As the durian and coffee trees are planted in rows on steep slopes, the entire operation uses a relatively slow flight speed at 1.6m/s with both manual and automatic modes based on the height of two types of trees using two types of pesticides (please check the tables below for details.)
| Date | 14/12 – 16/12/2022 | Operation Topography | Steep hill |
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Model | DJI Agras T30 | Flight Speed | 1.6m/s |
| Operation Height | 4.5m – 6m | Operation Mode | Automatic and manual |
Chemicals information
| Chemicals commercial name | Formulation | Chemicals amount (g or ml) used per hectare |
| Actatac 300EC | Profenofos 270g/L + Alpha Cypermethrin 30g/L + Special Additives 700g/L | 1.12L/ha |
| Again 800WC | Fipronil 800g/kg | 4.8kg/ha |
Here’s a breakdown of the entire operation process to show the operation parameters of each operation, as well as the specific location of each plot.
Operation Process Breakdown
Plot 1 is sprayed at the client’s home, where the field is intercropped with durian and coffee. The terrain is extremely steep and takes 1 hour to survey with Phantom 4 RTK and generate a 3D operation route with DJI Terra.
| Plot 1 | |||||
| Area | 3ha | Operation Time | 2pm–4:30pm | Consumption per ha | 120 L/ha |
When spraying Plot 2 and plot 3, the team had to move the drone on the ferry. The fields are steep and hilly and also intercropped with coffee and durian.
| Plot 2 | |||||
| Area | 1.8ha | Operation Time | 9:30am – 12pm | Consumption per ha | 120 L/ha |
| Plot 3 | |||||
| Area | 3.2ha | Operation Time | 1pm – 5:30pm | Consumption per ha | 120 L/ha |
Plot 4 is only 7 km away from the clients’ home, and can be transported with a car.
| Plot 4 | |||||
| Area | 1.9ha | Operation Time | 6:30am – 9am | Consumption per ha | 80 L/ha |
Four times Faster, Coated More Evenly & Safer Than Manual Spraying
With DJI Agras T30, the operation was completed in just 2.5 days (More than 10 days if using manual spraying) without taking much labor and keep the pilots from pesiticides. With the drip spraying function of DJI Agras T30, the amount of pesticides is evenly coated on both sides of the leaf surfaces, which is more efficient than traditional maunal spraying.
Before the operation
After the operation
The AIRWORKS plant protection team introduced the Agricultural Drones model to many areas in Vietnam and received much compliments by incorporating agricultural drones, the cutting-edge technology, helping farmers reduce the cost and time required to apply spraying operations in crops.
Accelerating Agricultural Mechanization in Vietnam
Agriculture plays an important part in Vietnam. Agricultural production is highly dependent on manual labor, which is inefficient. And agricultural mechanization is still in the stage of rapid development. Since DJI Agriculture entered the Vietnamese market in 2018, it has achieved a market share of 75% in 5 years and continues to grow rapidly.
The introduction of DJI Agricultural drones not only improves the efficiency of local agricultural production, but also saves costs as well as overcomes limitations and obstacles caused by mountainous terrain. Under the context of “Belt and Road Initiative”, DJI Agriculture will work harder to deliver products of higher quality to help with the mechanization of agriculture in Vietnam.