Delta Drone International has announced that Syngenta will be moving to Zambia to provide farming data through drones.
Delta Drone International is the result of a merger between Delta Drone South Africa and Australian drone parachute company ParaZero. The merger will allow both companies to take advantage of each other’s market share in Australia and Southern Africa and take on the ever-growing American market.
Rocketfarm, a subsidiary of the organization, will work closely with Syngenta to address the area’s unique weather systems and challenges.
The completion of the project is scheduled in the first quarter of this year. The two companies have been working together in South Africa for a couple of years, but this will be the first time that the two will jointly extend their activities.
It will play a key role in supporting Syngenta’s research and development team to assist farmers in the area with the latest crop protection and seed innovation. The new partnership should allow farmers to understand better what is happening to their crops through easy-to-understand and manageable data.
Delta Drone International also partnered with the University of Pretoria to deliver South Africa’s first specialized drone pilot course. It continues to spread its presence within the southern region of the continent.
Delta International CEO, Christopher Clark, shared: “Building on our established partnership with Syngenta by expanding into Zambia demonstrates how versatile our drone-as-a-service model is and how different applications can be utilized to solve a diverse range of challenges businesses may face. Our expertise in utilizing remote capture and coordination of all these datasets in real-time will not only allow Syngenta to more efficiently analyze data but also reduce the interaction of people on the ground in viewing activities at key field trial milestones – thereby ensuring work practices meet current safe-distancing protocols.”
The agriculture industry contributes to about 19% of Zambia’s GDP and employs approximately 75% of the population. The domestic market comprises maize, sorghum, millet, and cassava, while exports are driven by sugar, soybeans, coffee, groundnuts, rice, and cotton.