Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center hosts international researchers for Drone School program

The Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center (AREC) recently hosted international guests for a six-week Drone School program.

Organized by Maria Balota, crop physiologist, and Abhilash Chandel, precision agriculture specialist, the program was made possible through a U.S. Agency for International Development project funded through the Feed the Future Peanut Innovation Lab.

“The idea came from another Peanut Innovation Lab project that I lead to help farmers in Africa improve peanut varieties and yields," said Balota. “We needed to make sure that all participating countries in the project would have at least one researcher who knows how to fly a drone, collect images, and process and analyze them. With this school, we accomplished that.”

Visiting researchers from the African countries of Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda traveled to the Tidewater AREC for the program. The goals were to better understand drone applications and aerial imaging and to return home ready to use precision agriculture technologies to select peanut varieties with more resistance to drought and disease for higher yield.

“Agriculture in Africa is more than just a profession, it’s a way of life,” said Ph.D. student and Drone School participant Ivan Chapu. “Meeting people from various parts of Africa working toward improving people's livelihoods and sharing experiences was very insightful, and I believe these networks formed will foster collaborations in the future.”

Throughout the program, participants engaged in hands-on flight instruction, classroom learning, and tours to see all facets of the peanut industry. They made several site visits to see firsthand the growing, shelling, processing, packaging, and retail aspects of peanuts in the region.

The tours were facilitated by Indika Farms, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Inspection and Grading Office, Hubs Peanut Company, and JLA Labs in Edenton, North Carolina. During visits to the Virginia Crops Improvement Association and the Eastern Virginia AREC, participants got a more comprehensive view of the peanut industry.

In addition to the African researchers, Virginia Cooperative Extension agents and visiting scholars attended the program to learn more about drone technology.

“I was glad to hear that they now felt comfortable flying drones, obtaining pilot licenses, and performing complex analysis using machine learning with the acquired spectral imagery,” said Chandel. “The Tidewater AREC precision agriculture program wants to help promote the adoption of drones for precision crop health diagnosis and management. Realizing this impact at local, regional, national, and international scales has been the continual focus of our program.”