WASHINGTON — If GPS-guided tractors led the previous revolution in agriculture, the next generation of farming is likely to be marked by unmanned drones with onboard sensors that can spot weeds and decide when and how much herbicide to spray to control their growth.
“We are thinking about technologies like drones, the integration of drones in a production facility that can spot out the weeds and where you specifically need to treat,” said Chavonda Jacobs-Young, the undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics at the Agriculture Department.
Such technologies, collectively known as precision agriculture, would allow farmers “to reduce the amount of inputs, and it allows them to reduce the cost, and environmentally it allows us to minimize the amount of treatment that’s needed,” Jacobs-Young, who is also the department’s chief scientist, said in an interview.
