Market Outlook
The agricultural drones market revenue stood at $1.5 billion in 2018, and it is projected to progress at a CAGR of 25.0% during 2019–2024. The market growth is driven by the relaxation in the government norms for drones in Germany, the U.S., Brazil, China, Brazil, and India and high demand for agricultural products.
The North American market generated the highest revenue in 2018, and it is expected to retain its dominance in the foreseeable future. The leading position of this region can be ascribed to the increasing requirement to raise the agricultural output and decreasing number of skilled agricultural laborers.
Trends & Drivers
The agricultural drones industry is witnessing the key trend of the deployment of drones for crop spraying. By using drones, farmers can easily monitor and spray the far-fetched locations of their farms.
Moreover, the booming demand for agricultural products, such as vegetables and fruits, is one of the primary factors supporting the market growth. The consumption of agricultural produce is soaring due to a substantial growth in the global population. According to the United Nations (UN), the global population will grow from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 9.7 billion by 2050.
To amplify the agricultural production, farmers across the world are deploying drones in abundance. The high demand in the agricultural drones market can be credited to the several benefits offered by these platforms in crop spraying, soil analysis, and real-time crop monitoring, including cost-effectiveness.
Segmentation Analysis
The multi-rotor category, under the aerial platform segment, accounted for the largest market share, of nearly 50.0%, in 2018. Multi-rotor agricultural drones are being adopted by farmers in large numbers due to their low cost and easy-to-use mechanism. These drones are being used for crop management, health assessment, and crop spraying. Further, the adoption of fixed-wing drones is also accelerating to boost the crop production, as they offer longer flight times and cover larger farm areas in comparison to multi-rotor drones.
The small category, within the size segment, generated the highest revenue in 2018 due to the low cost and easy-control advantages of smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The large category will display the fastest growth in the foreseeable future. This can be ascribed to the high endurance, vast coverage of farm areas, and heavy-payload-carrying ability of large UAVs.
The crop spraying category, under the application segment of the agricultural drones market, held the largest share in 2018. Farmers can monitor far-fetched agricultural areas on a real-time basis by utilizing drones for crop spraying. Moreover, UAVs reduce the wastage of water, pesticides, and other liquids by ensuring that only the required volume is sprayed. Moreover, multi-rotor UAVs can hover just like a helicopter, thereby allowing for better spray control.
Geographical Analysis
The North American region held the largest share in 2018, of over 40.0%, owing to the vast demand for food products in the region. In the same year, the region recorded a sale of nearly 100,000 agricultural drones. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture, the value of the agricultural produce of North America stood at $176.4 billion in 2018.
Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market for agricultural drones is expected to register the fastest growth in the coming years due to the vast demand for agricultural products, itself because of its huge population. According to the UN, nearly 60% of the world’s population resides in APAC, and this share is expected to rise in the coming years., which will further propel the demand for UAVs among the regional agrarian community.
Competitive Landscape
The agricultural drones market is highly competitive in nature due to the presence of major companies, such as SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd., AeroVironment Ltd., Parrot Drones SAS, Yuneec International, and Drone Deploy Inc. In 2018, the market players witnessed an increase in their sales volume, primarily in North America and APAC. Further, developing countries, such as China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil, are projected to be the primary markets. Thus, competition is projected to intensify in coming years.
Recent Strategic Developments of Major Players
Major players in the global agricultural drones industry are focusing on partnerships and product launches to gain a competitive edge in the market. For instance, in September 2019, drone manufacturing company SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. partnered with Delair SAS, a solution provider for visual intelligence and data management, to enhance visual data management and analysis. This collaborative solution would enhance visual data collection and provide more insights on the visual data collected through drones.
Agricultural Drones Market Segmentation
By Aerial Platform
- Multi-Rotor
- Single-Rotor
- Fixed-Wing
By Size
By Application
- Soil and Field Analysis
- Crop Monitoring
- Health Assessment
- Irrigation
- Crop Spraying
- Aerial Planting
Regional Outlook
- North America
- Europe
- U.K.,
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Asia-Pacific (APAC)
- China
- Japan
- India
- South Korea
- Australia
- Thailand
- Indonesia
- Latin America (LATAM)
- Middle East & Africa
- South Africa
- Turkey
- Israel
Key Questions Answered in the Report
- What is the current scenario of the global agricultural drones market?
- What are the emerging technologies that could impact the market?
- What are the key market segments and their size and future potential?
- What are the major catalysts for the market and their impact during the short, medium, and long terms?
- What are the evolving opportunities for the players in the market?
- Which are the key regions from the investment perspective?
- What are the key strategies adopted by the major players to expand their market shares?
