Drones are invading the countryside: an estimate by consultancy firm PwC shows that the use of drones in Brazil is higher than in the rest of the world.
Virtually unknown until the mid-2010s, drones, small unmanned aircraft that can be controlled remotely, have been increasing their presence in a variety of activities, especially their use on farms. The pace of growth of this market in the country has surprised even the equipment manufacturers.
There are estimates that Brazil will become the world's third largest market for drones in agriculture within two years. Brazil ranks tenth in the world market for agricultural drones. The leading players today are the United States, Europe, Canada and Argentina. The growth projection for the drone market in Brazil is based on studies by the company's analysts and the potential of Brazilian agricultural production.
Since the rules for the use of drones were defined (a year ago, in May 2017), around 40% of unmanned aircraft would be dedicated to agribusiness applications, according to estimates by the organizers of the DroneShow fair, held in mid-May in São Paulo. This share is higher than the rest of the world, which has a percentage of 25%, according to data from auditing firm PwC.
In addition to agribusiness, other activities that have been using the new technology include construction inspection companies, security, professional filming and photography, monitoring and mapping, among others.
One of the country's leading drone manufacturers, XMobots has around 80% of its sales concentrated on precision agriculture services, which use technology to improve productivity in the field. "This demand is growing too much," said the company's director, Thatiana Miloso.
Environmental monitoring
"In sugarcane farming, the use of drones is already established as one of its inputs," says Thatiana. The second main demand is for environmental monitoring. "Since the accident in Mariana (a dam burst in the city of Minas Gerais in 2015), demand for this service has experienced a boom."
Despite the current concentration of business in the agricultural sector, the company predicts that new segments are beginning to seek out drone services. "We have detected an upswing in sectors such as construction and environmental monitoring," said the company's CEO, Giovani Amianti.
The workforce involved in drone activities is a separate issue with different angles. Drone manufacturers complain about the difficulty in finding professionals with the necessary profile on the market, who they want to hire with a hybrid background: who combine knowledge of technology and software development with experience in agronomy, forestry engineering and the like.
On the other hand, the arrival of efficient drones on crops has caused the heads of surveying and mapping professionals to roll, as they have lost competitiveness in the face of the new technological efficiency. "There has been a paradigm shift in efficiency, which is why jobs have been cut," says Giovani.
According to him, while an employee surveyor works on around 10 hectares a day using the old measurement method (surveying altitude and longitude), a drone covers 500 hectares in the same time, resulting in a very precise digital project. "Since then, it has been discovered that crop failures of up to 30% occur due to inaccuracies," Giovani revealed.
There are 41,000 aircraft licensed to operate in the country, according to the records of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC). However, among professionals in the sector, the perception is that the number of aircraft in operation is much higher than this. "Currently, there must be around 120,000 drones in operation in the country, with an emphasis on agriculture and filming and photography services," calculated Giovani Amianti, from XMobots. "I can guarantee that there are more than 100,000 drones in operation in Brazil," said the director and organizer of DroneShow, Emerson Granemann.
Even among ANAC's undersized figures, the growth of registered equipment has been rapid: while in October 2017 there were 22,000 of them registered for operation in the country, in April this year, that is, five months later, the number had risen to 41,000. Amid the effervescence in the sector's activities, in May ANAC licensed the first pilots for operations above 400 feet in specific types of airspace.
Operators
The Brazilian drone market currently has 9,500 operators registered with the Department of Airspace Control (DECEA). In July 2018, there were 43,621 people registered to operate drones with ANAC (of which 41,262 were individuals and 2,359 legal entities). In the same period in 2017, there were 12,514 people registered (11,693 individuals and 821 legal entities).
There are several companies that manufacture drones that offer free piloting courses, with theoretical and practical stages and varying prices. They are only suitable for the smaller models (which account for almost 90% of the market), which have a flight limit of 120 meters, a weight limit of 25 kilos and visual operation only, i.e. they cannot be piloted by instruments. Within these specifics, it is not necessary to obtain a license or legal qualification.
To operate larger drones, which reach greater speed and height, as well as weighing more than 25 kilos, licensing with ANAC is required. The first two pilots were approved for this modality in May. "To pass our tests, the pilot is subjected to several exams: a one-day technical test, training and then practical exams," says ANAC's technical manager, Rafael Gasparini Moreira.
More broadly, the analysis is that the main problems that have arisen so far with the spread of the equipment, according to ANAC, are related to non-compliance with the rules due to lack of knowledge of the regulations. "Among the most frequent are use in the city, which is prohibited within 30 meters of another operator, and the risk of interference with air traffic, such as the recent incident at Congonhas Airport, which is still under investigation," says Rafael Gasparini.
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