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CHIREDZI – In a bid to increase sugarcane production, the Zimbabwe Sugar Association Experiment Station (ZSAES) is now licensed to operate a spraying drone.
This was revealed during a tour of the station by a team of sugar players from Malawi on Monday.
Addressing the Malawian sugar players, ZSEA Senior Research Agronomist, Dr Tendai Chibarabada said ZSEA is now licensed to use drones with effect from May 2024.
“We are now licensed to use drones, and we were licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority, and this one we have here is a spraying drone,” said Chibarabada.
Chibarabada also said that the drone can only be operated by trained pilots.
“It’s a bit expensive to procure a drone, but it’s worth it because the benefits are many,” said Chibarabada.
One of the drone pilots, Nathaniel Shayanewako, who is also a ZSEA Agronomist and Research Services Manager, said the drone is interchangeable and can be used to spray fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides.
“The drone has a 40-litre capacity and can be used interchangeably to spray seeds, powders, and fertilizers,” said Shayanewako.
Chisumbanje Estate is another sugarcane-producing organization that adopted the use of drones in 2018.
Malawian Embassy Counsellor, Dr Hudson Makhwala, who was among the sugar players from Malawi, said he was thrilled with the use of modern technology in sugar production and that he would adopt the use of drones in sugar production in Malawi.
“I was thrilled by the use of drones in sugar production, and I wish to implement the same method back home,” he said.