The rapid global rise of agricultural drones: Evidence, drivers, impacts and an agenda for future research
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Agriculture is undergoing a new revolution. Technological advances allow drones to perform multiple tasks, including spraying crop protectants, spreading fertilizers, sowing seeds and surveying fields. Agricultural drone use is growing extremely rapidly, particularly in Asia and Latin America, but has received little attention because it has happened so quickly. This revolution is significant because drones have the potential to enhance agricultural sustainability and reduce health risks by applying inputs more efficiently and safely than conventional methods. Drones also have the potential to raise agricultural productivity and farm incomes, overcome labor scarcity, and support rural livelihoods. But they may also create tradeoffs, including new environmental and social externalities, and dilemmas around technological sovereignty and data privacy. Prior literature on agricultural drones has been highly technical, with little attention paid to drone diffusion or its impacts. To address this gap, we synthesize diverse non-academic secondary sources including news media, trade press, and drone company websites to track the extent and characteristics of global agricultural drone diffusion. We report estimated numbers of agricultural drones operational in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Korea, USA, and Vietnam and discuss their use cases. We analyze drivers of global agricultural drone diffusion and examine emerging evidence of the impacts of drones on farm labor, agricultural efficiency, productivity, and profitability, and occupational health. The paper concludes by setting out an agenda for applied research on the sustainability and food security impacts of agricultural drones.
Source: Global Food Security
Authors: Ben Belton, Leo Baldiga, Scott Justice, Bart Minten, Sudha Narayanan, Thomas Reardon
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,240
OpenAlex ID: W7110949387