Bangladesh’s farmers are beginning to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to spray pesticides and map fields, a shift that promises to cut costs and shield workers from hazardous chemicals as the nation assesses technology already widely adopted in the United States, Japan, and Australia.
The technology, known as drone-assisted agriculture or UAV integration, is transforming how growers manage crops, water, and risk. Agricultural drones equipped with RGB, thermal, and multispectral cameras alongside GPS and mapping systems gather precise data on plant health, soil moisture, water distribution, and disease presence, allowing farmers to detect dry or overly saturated zones and apply water only where it is needed.
This targeted early detection reduces waste and improves water-use efficiency, an increasingly vital metric in regions grappling with water scarcity. The systems also measure soil moisture variation and identify irrigation leaks or overwatering, while thermal and multispectral imaging can flag nutrient deficiencies and track plant growth stages long before they are visible to the naked eye. Japanese rice farmers, for instance, rely heavily on drones to spray water and nutrients in paddy fields that are difficult to reach on foot. In the United States, large-scale operations use the machines to optimise irrigation schedules by mapping moisture levels across vast holdings.
In Bangladesh, however, the application remains in a pilot phase. Agri-tech firms such as iFarmer have conducted initial demonstrations in northern districts including Rangpur and the southwestern region of Jashore, concentrating almost exclusively on pesticide spraying. That single task has traditionally been one of the most time-consuming, costly, and dangerous jobs on a farm. Where manual spraying demands expensive labour, a single agricultural drone can cover one acre of land in just fifteen minutes—a job that would otherwise take three labourers more than four hours to complete. Drone spraying also reduces overall pesticide use and keeps farmers away from direct chemical exposure.
Expanding the footprint of drone technology across Bangladesh will require supportive government policies, investment in training, and structured collaboration between the public and private sectors. Once farmers become accustomed to the equipment, backers say, the unmanned systems can play a central role in farm management, driving cost reduction, sharper time efficiency, and improved yields.
