On the afternoon of January 17, 2023, the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) held a press conference to announce the standards for field trials of pesticides to prevent and control organisms harmful to plants. UAV).

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Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, deputy director of the Crop Protection Department, said unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used in many different fields by many countries around the world. In the agricultural sector, however, the degree of use is only around 52% (compared to other sectors).

“It can be seen that this is both a potential and a challenge in the transmission and widespread use of drones. Because we have to evaluate all issues related to the effectiveness and efficiency of drones. The use of drones must be able to assess the risks and input costs in agricultural production today,” Mr Huynh Tan Dat addressed the issue.

In the two years of 2021-2022, the crop protection department has been working with qualified testing organizations, domestic aircraft suppliers, member companies of CropLife Vietnam and a number of companies, a company under the Vietnam Association of Plant Protection Drugs and Traders (VIPA), a number of experimental models for spraying with drones.

This trial was conducted on 7 main crop groups with 8 different types of pesticides to prevent 15 types of harmful organisms in many different agricultural production areas across the country.

The results show that the potential for applying drone technology to spray pesticides to prevent some pests is very large, especially on crops such as rice, corn and fruit trees with high control equivalent or higher than traditional spraying.

Also, the application of drone technology helps to significantly save the amount of water, medicines and labor used. Farmers who participated in the study also reported that they were less exposed to pesticides than with conventional spraying.

Based on the test results, the Crop Protection Department has developed a draft standard for drone testing of pesticides.

This base standard provides criteria and evaluation criteria for agricultural materials used by drones. There are 3 main criteria: evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of crop protection products when using drones; residues on agricultural products; Effects of drone spraying on plants, the environment and beneficial insects in the production process.

Many meetings and seminars were held in 2022 to collect comments from organizations, individuals, associations, international experts, etc. According to experts, the base standard was revised based on actual conditions in Vietnam and finalized in October 2022 for review and final publication in early 2023.

Although the published standard is a basic standard, it is very important for the industry to apply a transformation in production methods, to gradually integrate the digital transformation and scientific and technical progress into agricultural production in general and the field of plant protection in bring something special. From there to meet the production needs of the places in a timely manner; the orientation policy of the agricultural sector, the government in the development strategies of the agricultural sector towards modernity, civilization, ecology and sustainability…”, affirmed Mr. Huynh Tan Dat.

Mr. Dat also pointed out that in order to register UAVs as part of their use, they must go through the Ministry of National Defense. When working on site, permission must be obtained from the local police in order not to be filmed and photographed.

At the same time, if you want to import, you need to go through the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for developing standards for managing the use of agricultural materials by aircraft, managing the technical requirements, efficiency and risks of materials to agricultural product users.

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Representing the companies at the press conference, Mr. Mai Anh Tuan, Sao Thang Tam Joint Stock Company, said that each UAV costs between VND 200 million and VND 600 million. It is necessary for operators using aircraft to ensure spraying at the right time, i.e. early morning spraying after rain.

The use of drones in agriculture is a current trend in many countries around the world. According to a study conducted by Goldman Sachs, agriculture is expected to be the second largest industry in global drone adoption in the next 5 years.

In China alone, the estimated number of drones used in agriculture in 2016-2017 is around 13,000 drones; by 2021, that number has risen to more than 160,000 (a more than 10-fold increase) with an estimated total area of ​​application of almost 87 million hectares.

“This change is also being accelerated by other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and India, where the use of drones has brought many potential opportunities to solve problems. There is increasing pressure on food security due to shortage of labor force and population, aging trend and rapid urbanization process ‘ Mr. Tuan said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Son, chairman of the Vietnamese Association of Plant Protection Products Manufacturers and Traders (VIPA), said the Ministry of Plant Protection’s announcement of standards for field testing of pesticides for crop protection products to control crop pests by drone is very good, and important information is not only for companies within the framework of VIPA, but also contributes significantly to solving many concerns and problems of people, cooperatives and other associated companies to use unmanned aerial vehicles in production effectively and according to regulations.

In Vietnam, some VIPA companies have used drones to prevent some harmful organisms on rice, corn, vegetables and fruit trees. First spraying results show that the efficiency is equal, in many cases the efficiency is higher than traditional sprayers.

“The promulgation of this base standard is an important basis for companies to apply for registration of pesticide products used on drones in the future,” said Mr. Son.

Ms. Dao Thu Vinh – CropLife Vietnam representative, suggested that in the coming period, the Crop Protection Department should further develop and guide the operation of SOPs, so that farmers can have access to spray technology to enable more efficient, safer and more responsible drone crop protection towards not just modern agriculture, but responsible agriculture.