Remote sensing in South Africa helped save on nutrient management

The problem

Remotely controlling growers’ nutrient applications to prevent yield loss and avoid unnecessary application.

The solution

An agro-retailer company requested that their growers use aerial data to monitor their plant nutrient deficiencies and improve their spraying accuracy. 

The monitoring was done Macro-to-Micro by first analyzing high resolution NDVI satellite images, then birds’-eye views with orthophotos, and finally low altitude, leaf level flights.

When a point of interest related to nutrient deficiency was detected, the agro-retailer alerted the grower to send the drone to scan and photograph the specific location so agronomists could analyze the findings. A spraying plan was then made based on those findings.  

This scouting process continued throughout the entire season to improve the agro-retailer’s control over the fertilizer applications, the yield, and ultimately, the savings.

The outcome

The agro-retailer was able to identify leaf level nutrient deficiencies and advise the growers to spray accordingly.

Instead of scanning the entire field the detection was specific and saved 30% of the field technicians’ time. The agro-retailer improved its remote nutritional management by 33% and the growers were able to reduce their sprayings by 8%.