Aerial Agricultural Solutions
Aerial pollination
Dropcopter coordinates with the grower before bloom to generate automated flight paths over specific rows of crops. Upon bloom, Dropcopter flies the aircraft up to 10 feet above the trees dispensing an agreed application rate of dry pollen exactly where it needs to be.
“Excitement over the technology, but also optimism that one less weather-related event I have to worry about every spring.”
— Pete, Dropcopter Client
Why growers partner with us
To increase the efficiency of bee visits
The timing of when crops produce pollen and when they are receptive to pollen can differ within and between individuals. Orchards are typically planted to have intentional overlap in pollenizer varieties (produce abundant pollen) and varieties that are usually higher value and don't produce as much pollen. Crop varieties phenology that may have been in sync 30 years ago maybe increasingly out of sync, thus there are asynchronies in available pollen compared to the period of time when a flower is receptive to pollen.
Mechanical pollination
Some crops are already pollinated by machine or by hand, like date palm, or conifer trees for improved seed production. Dropcopter provides a scalable and efficient solution to these crops that are already anthropogenically pollinated.
Micro-environments within an orchard
Bee flight hours is an important determinant of pollination service- Due to topography or varietal differences, Bees may be less likely to visit certain sections of the orchard, and this is where Dropcopter can be useful, bringing pollen directly to the crops that don't receive much bee visitation.
Crop load management
Dropcopter can help both short and long term efforts for bi-annual bearing crops: bolstering fruit set during light years, which may reduce over-setting in the next year. Dropcopter provides the potential to be selective during thinning efforts rather than wishing there was a more even distribution of fruits on the tree.
