Bashkiria started testing drones for agricultural work is one of first in Russia

The Russian government has approved a program of an experimental legal regime for the operation of unmanned aerial systems in Bashkortostan. Drones can participate in transporting goods, conduct aerial photography, perform aerial chemical work to combat pests in agriculture, and work to extinguish forest fires. The program will become a mechanism for the future implementation of one of the high-tech "lighthouse projects" supervised by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.

“This season in Bashkortostan, testing of drones for aviation and chemical field processing will begin. In particular, solutions with artificial intelligence will be used - this allows you to quickly determine what solutions need to be applied and how to protect plants. This pilot legal regime is the first to take a systematic approach to use of drones in agriculture. We invite other regions to join this initiative,” said Vladimir Voloshin, Director of the Digital Development Department of the Ministry of Economic Development.

“We expect to test the hypothesis in a territory with unique and favorable conditions for this. Bashkortostan has everything necessary: infrastructure, personnel, scientific developments, and manufacturing enterprises. I am sure that my colleagues’ experience will help scale up the experiment in the region and make its application full-fledged in the future,” says Sergey Plugotarenko, General Director of ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika.

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles for the delivery of goods will allow for serving remote and hard-to-reach territories, as well as provide operational communication with them, regardless of the availability of ground communications.

Aerial drone photography is one of the most demanded services today. The advantages associated with the speed and high accuracy of the data obtained are highly valued when performing work such as surveying pipelines, power lines, and other infrastructure facilities.

The use of drones in agriculture and forestry is in demand, for example, in aerial chemical work, and also allows you to implement the principles of "precision farming", making this type of work safer for humans and expanding the geography of application.

The new services will begin to be used in Bashkortostan after establishing an experimental legal regime and implementing procedures for the admission of drones to operation and aviation personnel to work in the testing area. The duration of the experiment is three years.

Author: Azat Gizzatullin