Huawei and Dronetech partner to facilitate sustainable agriculture in Austria

Huawei and Dronetech, the largest drone service provider in Austria, have announced new applications resulting from their collaboration on 5G smart agriculture.

At the Nussböckgut vineyard, a century-old estate in Upper Austria first mentioned in a document from 1323, the two companies gave an update on their pioneering project that began last year, presenting how their 5G and IoT technologies can advance sustainability in agriculture.

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Huawei and Dronetech also hosted a panel made up of digitization and agriculture experts who discussed how technological innovation, and 5G in particular, can promote sustainable agriculture amid growing global concerns about food security.

The companies announced that their collaboration is entering the second phase dubbed “Digital Sky.” Huawei will provide cloud computing services on top of 5G, which will serve as the basis for real-time artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. Meanwhile, equipped with high-resolution cameras and sensors, Dronetech’s drones will survey the terrain and objects, capturing images and data that will be processed by AI, providing actionable insights to users instantly.

the two companies offered an update on their pioneering project that began last year

The technology helps farmers detect tiny insects, monitor crop health and predict harvests, enabling them to optimize water, chemical and pesticide use precisely and with minimal waste.

In the second phase, the project also plans to develop a sharing economy approach to drone services. Users from different sectors, such as farmers, municipalities, companies or individuals, could rent the drones and their AI solutions for a wide range of applications, such as the inspection of solar panels, traffic management or the detection of wear on power lines. .

“Huawei and Dronetech’s project with the use of drones in asparagus and wine cultivation is the first in Austria and in it we want to analyze plant growth with real-time image recognition. With this we want to improve the harvest, the yield and the quality of the products”, explains Andreas Reichhardt, General Director of Directorate General VI – Telecommunications, Postal Services and Mining of the Austrian Ministry of Finance. “We want to take advantage of the opportunities of digital transformation, for this we need an optimal infrastructure, here the focus is on the 5G area.”

Huawei will provide cloud computing services on top of 5G, which will serve as the basis for real-time artificial intelligence (AI) analysis.

The biggest challenge in introducing 5G drones in agriculture is network coverage. Currently, 5G networks are primarily designed for the end user who is mostly at ground level or indoors. High-quality coverage for drones, which routinely fly 50 meters above the ground, still needs to be developed.

Erich Manzer, Deputy General Manager of Huawei Austria, said: “5G was developed for three key application areas: For high bandwidth, low latency, and to connect millions of devices. The use of drones in combination with AI and 5G can solve many resource-intensive operations, such as maintenance or area supervision.”

David Hopf, CEO of Dronetech, noted: “AI-powered drones are important enablers for the sustainable future of agriculture. In collaboration with Huawei, we have developed a solution that can not only massively reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers, but also improve agricultural efficiency and reduce labor costs. This helps make our food supply chains more sustainable.”