A number of factors, such as the rising need for agricultural products, improving productivity of agricultural products, and relaxation in the government rules for drones in the U.S., Germany, China, Brazil, and India, are projected to drive the growth of the agricultural drones market at a CAGR of 25.0% during the forecast period (2019–2024). According to P&S Intelligence, the market generated revenue of $1.5 billion in 2018, and it is expected to reach $6.2 billion by 2024. Moreover, the market is witnessing a trend of surging adoption of drones for crop spraying.
One of the prime factors aiding the agricultural drones market is the rising need for agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, across the world. The demand for these products is increasing, owing to the substantial rise in the global population. For instance, as per the United Nations (UN), the population across the globe is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 from 7.7 billion in 2019. To boost agricultural production, farmers are widely deploying drones in several applications such as soil analysis, crop spraying, and real-time crop monitoring.
The aerial platform segment of the agricultural drones market is classified into multi-rotor, single-rotor, and fixed-wing. Among these, the multi-rotor category accounted for the largest market share in 2018. This is because farmers are widely adopted multi-rotor agricultural drones, owing to their easy-to-use mechanism and low cost, for crop management, crop spraying, and health assessment. Whereas, the demand for fixed-wing drones is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period, as these drones carry heavy payloads and cover larger farm areas.
Furthermore, on the basis of application, the market is categorized into soil and field analysis, health assessment, crop monitoring, irrigation, aerial planting, and crop spraying. Among these, the crop spraying category held the largest share in 2018, and it is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. With the utilization of drones for crop spraying, farmers can monitor far-fetched firm lands on a real-time basis. Further, the drones help reduce wastage of pesticides, water, and other liquids by allowing for better spray control and ensuring that only adequate volume is sprayed.
Globally, North America was the largest agricultural drones market in 2018. This is ascribed to the declining skilled agricultural labors and the rising need to increase agricultural output in the region. To overcome the shortage of labors, farmers are increasingly deploying agricultural drones, which help in reducing operation costs and improving crop productivity. Whereas, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market is projected to observe the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the surging population base and increasing demand for agricultural products in the region.
Thus, the rising demand for agricultural products and the improving productivity of agricultural products across the world are expected to propel the market growth during the forecast period.
