WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of an effort between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and TechnoServe, Inc. to increase innovation in agriculture and improve development, Measure’s Vice President of Agriculture Robert Blair led a discussion on how data from drones can increase farm productivity and outcome.
“Agriculture has the tremendous challenge and responsibility of feeding 9.5 billion people by 2050, which is no small task,” said Blair. “It will take new technologies such as drones for farm communities to be successful, as well as the engagement of non- traditional agriculture companies.”
The Innovations in Outcome Measurement Convening (IOM) is a workshop series sponsored by TechnoServe and the Gates Foundation bringing together dozens of business leaders, academics, and technology advocates from the agriculture industry. Over the course of the two-year program, the group will identify breakthrough innovations capable of transforming agriculture and develop a framework for scaling these innovations for business use.
Early in 2016, Measure released the first-ever Drone Flight Calculator to help farmers assess the value of using drones in their agriculture operations. The web-based application is the direct result of a study and flight operations conducted with the American Farm Bureau Federation. Available free of charge, the Drone Flight Calculator allows farmers to input data such as fertilizer use, farm size, and crop type to see how drones can improve operations and cut costs.
