Drones and agriculture.

Agriculture has been one of the industries quickest to adopt drone technology.18 per cent of UK agricultural businesses have utilised drone technology and they are being used to survey fields, distribute pesticides and some farms have even started to use them in place of a sheepdog. The agricultural robotics and drone market is expected to be worth $10bn (£7.54bn) by 2022. Japan has been using unmanned helicopters since early 90's to spray rice fields and autonomous drones have also been providing detailed aerial photographs and video. This can be of benefit to farmers for collecting data, reviewing crops as well as in agricultural land sales. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recently relaxed drone use regulations surrounding UK drone usage for commercial trials, in response to requests from Amazon to trial its Prime Air delivery service. Lower regulatory barriers for drones could see the market increase to $485m (£365.52m) in agriculture by 2026, according to an IDTechEx research report.Drones are already being used around the world for deliveries of consumer products, providing humanitarian aid, and security - with support from the CAA, Britain can be at the forefront of the development for business and industry. Robotic milking parlours have already been adopted and the industry is currently worth £1.9bn (£1.43bn) but is expected to rise to $8bn (£6.03bn) by 2026.more