Identification of Appropriate Drone Technology and its application areas for Agriculture Automation in Bhutan

Authors

  • Lily Gurung College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.
  • Manoj Chhetri College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.
  • Parshu Ram Dhungyel College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17102/bjrd.rub.se2.040

Keywords:

Drones, UAVs, Agriculture

Abstract

Various applications of drones in agriculture sector around the world have been analysed in this paper. One of the conclusions after the study conducted indicates that almost all of the tasks are not fully automated but relies on the drone operator. The role played by the operator is varied depending on the type of tasks performed. Nevertheless, irrespective of the level of involvement of the operator, all the agricultural tasks noted in this study benefited immensely by the involvement of drones. The agricultural characteristics and limitations in Bhutanese context were studied along with the drone obligatory restrictions from the Bhutan Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA). The application areas to agricultural sectors in Bhutan which are legally and economically feasible have been mapped. The study also proposes the drones to be owned and operated by local government officials or community centre heads since farmers are not eligible to own the drones as well as due to small land holdings it is also not feasible.

Author Biographies

Lily Gurung, College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.

Lily Gurung is currently an Associate Lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department at the College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan. She graduated in Bachelors in Civil Engineering in 2012 from College of Science and Technology and holds a Master’s degree in MTech. in Geotechnical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. She has more than 8 years of teaching experience in civil engineering and engineering geology courses. She holds a training certificate on senseFly eBee Plus for Mapping and Monitoring of the Environment, which enables her to independently lead drone related surveys.

Manoj Chhetri, College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.

Manoj Chhetri is currently an Associate Lecturer in the Information Technology Department at the College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan. He holds a Master’s degree in M.Tech. in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. He has more than 9 years of teaching experience in information technology courses.

Parshu Ram Dhungyel, College of Science and Technology (CST), Royal University of Bhutan.

Parshu Ram Dhungyel is currently an Associate Lecturer in the Information Technology Department at the College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan. He holds a Master’s degree in M.Sc. in Computer Systems from Riga Technical University, Latvia, Europe. He is a former transmission manager of Bhutan Telecom Ltd. and has more than 9 years of teaching experience in information technology courses.

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Published

03-02-2023

How to Cite

Gurung, L. ., Chhetri, M. ., & Dhungyel, . P. R. . (2023). Identification of Appropriate Drone Technology and its application areas for Agriculture Automation in Bhutan. Bhutan Journal of Research and Development, (2). https://doi.org/10.17102/bjrd.rub.se2.040

Issue

No. 2 (2023): SPECIAL EDITION

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Lily Gurung, Manoj Chhetri, Parshu Ram Dhungyel

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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