Assessing stressed crops from the sky

In Peru, the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, uses drones to aerially assess crop performance under different stresses, such as pests, diseases, drought and frost — all of them widespread phenomena in the Andes, one area where CIP works.

Having tested this technique, CIP submitted it to the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Now they work together on using drones to assist in gene selection and collecting agricultural data.

In the future, the researchers hope to be able to predict the quality and quantity of yields from data collected from drones.