The rising awareness of the planet drives people to take action to protect our planet. While harnessing drones and robots for sustainable agriculture, XAG has been actively involved in the protection of waterways, rivers and farm dams.

No lives on Earth can grow without healthy water. Agriculture and the water ecology may be more strongly bonded than you think. Agricultural producers should pay more attention to their impact of farming operation on the rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Here are a few facts about the connection between water, food and nature.

Drone to Combat Water Weeds

In recent years, XAG's agricultural drones have been used in Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia to control harmful weeds on water areas. Aquatic weeds such as Water hyacinth, Salvinia, Water Lettuce, and Algae can grow in locations that are difficult to access by boat or shore, making traditional ground-based spraying treatment render helpless.   

Nowadays, autonomous drone can carry herbicide or biopesticide and spray precisely overhead right above the infestation spots. It uses less herbicide to kill the weeds and avoid chemical overuse to the water body. As drone can easily approach the target and provide more timely control to the growth of water weeds on rivers and farm dams, we expect to bring down the costs and manual effort of water area protection.

Water Protection Matters to Our Foods

Protecting water areas such as rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs around the farms lays down the foundation for rural community to thrive and grow better crops. It can reduce the risks of exposures to contaminated water, as well as preserving the biodiversity of wildlife below water and on land. We can therefore enjoy abundant availability and quantity of water supplies to nurture our food.

Irrigation and Water Shortage

There are various risks in agriculture that are driving the instability of water ecosystem. To feed the growing world population, water demand from the rural areas has been increasing but along with serious pollution and waste. For example, due to the low adoption of technology, the inefficient irrigation schemes have exacerbated water shortage in face of climate change. Farmers are struggling with the soaring costs of water management and the frequent occurrence of floods and drought.

Irrigation is the primary human use of surface freshwater resources. Around 71% of the world's irrigated area and 47% of major cities currently experience periodic water shortages due to the dry out of rivers and lakes.

Confront the Misuse of Nitrogen

According to the UN Environment Program, global farmers apply around 115 million tons of nitrogen to our crops annually, but only around 35% of them are absorbed, meaning 75 million tons of nitrogen run off into our rivers, lakes and become the main source of water eutrophication. Excess nutrition in the water bodies can double the size of aquatic weeds that can deplete dissolved oxygen levels and block waterways, leading to a decrease in water quality.