{"id":659,"date":"2026-07-10T19:49:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=659"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:49:27","slug":"drones-artificial-intelligence-help-farmers-detect-crop-diseases-boost-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=659","title":{"rendered":"Drones, Artificial Intelligence Help Farmers Detect Crop Diseases, Boost Yields"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Chiamaka Odulu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Farmers are increasingly adopting drone technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to detect crop diseases early, reduce production losses, and improve agricultural productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The emerging technology is changing farming practices by enabling farmers to monitor crops, identify disease outbreaks, and apply treatments only where they are needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small quadcopters equipped with advanced imaging systems now scan farmlands regularly, producing detailed images that AI programmes analyze to detect early signs of plant diseases, pests, and other agricultural challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The technology allows farmers to receive digital maps showing affected areas, helping them target infected plants rather than spraying entire fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=653\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=653\">COMMESSA Week \u201926 Wraps Up Amid Renewed Call For Academics-Entertainment Balance<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agricultural experts say the approach helps reduce production costs, limit excessive chemical use, and protect beneficial insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oghenetega Austin, a cassava farmer managing about 200 hectares of farmland in Delta State, said drone technology helped him detect a fungal outbreak before it became widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to him, the technology saved him significant resources during the farming season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLast year, I would have sprayed the entire field just to be safe, costing me thousands on chemicals. This year, the AI map showed me exactly nine small hotspots. I treated only those patches. I saved 70 per cent on fungicide and still got my best harvest in a decade,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=652\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"652\">Students groan as house rent soars in abraka<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts believe the adoption of artificial intelligence in agriculture could provide solutions to food security challenges, particularly in countries facing increasing pressure to feed growing populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the technology is still developing, farmers believe innovations such as drones and AI offer new hope for improving food production and reducing agricultural losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Chiamaka Odulu Farmers are increasingly adopting drone technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to detect crop diseases early, reduce production losses, and improve agricultural productivity. The emerging technology is changing farming practices by enabling farmers to monitor crops, identify disease outbreaks, and apply treatments only where they are needed. Small quadcopters equipped with advanced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15],"tags":[31,66,47,132,28],"class_list":["post-659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trendingnews","category-viewspoint","tag-abraka","tag-agriculture","tag-ai","tag-farmers","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions\/661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}