Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD. Student, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
3
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
4
Assistant Professor, Department of Geomatics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran.
5
Professor, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Abstract
The current research was done to analyzethe necessity and importance of using drones in rice farming. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and through content analysis in four stages, including material collection, descriptive analysis, category selection and evaluation. Using the non-probability sampling method and a combination of judgmental and referral methods, a sample of 15 experts in the field of agricultural drones was identified, and the necessary information was collected after about 12 hours of interviews. The semi-structured interview analysis has shown that a total of 43 concepts in three categories including "unique technical features", "monitoring and optimizing the production process (improvement of farm management)" and "economic, social and environmental benefits (welfare and well-being)" have been identified as the necessity and importance of using a drone in paddy farming. Based on this, the most necessary and important reasons for the use of drones in paddy farming include reducing the difficulty of farmers' work, reducing the amount of consumption of poisons and chemical fertilizers (through proper and accurate spraying) and the pollution caused by them, reducing the pressure on agricultural water resources through accurate use, time-saving, cost saving, flexibility (perform hybrid agricultural missions) and high mobility (speed), and identification of agricultural crop diseases. Drone technology is one of the emerging technologies and the latest generation of technologies related to precision agriculture. Due to the unique features of agricultural drones, their use in rice farming will monitor and optimize the production process, which will ultimately lead to economic, social and environmental benefits.
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