Agrometa Plans to Introduce Drones in Agriculture
Modern technologies in agriculture - the project "Smart Agriculture" aims to introduce drones in the agricultural sector.
Nikoloz Meskhi, the founder of the startup, told Business Partner that the project will support farmers' activities and the development of intensive agriculture in Georgia.
"Our startup uses plant protection products with drones and provides agro-services to farmers. Specifically, agro-drones can cultivate both annual and perennial crops, fruit, almonds, orchards, corn, wheat, watermelon, etc. As compared to standard mechanization.
If the medicine is dissolved in 300 liters, in the case of agro drone the volume is reduced to 30 liters, which also saves water resources and accurate dosing of the medicine takes place, at the same time the poisoning time is much reduced. It is possible to cultivate annual crops on an area of about 100 hectares of land per day with the help of an agro drone.
We have already purchased the appropriate equipment and off-road vehicles to move the necessary equipment. Within the framework of the project, we have established the company "Agrometa", we have created a WEB platform and a Facebook page, therefore any farmer can contact us very easily," - said Nikoloz Meskhi.
The startup recently won a $100,000 grant from Gita, which will be used to purchase the DJI Agras T30 and DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral drones, as well as the necessary equipment. It is noteworthy that the idea of the startup started with the creation of its own drone prototype, however, as the company says, it takes a lot of time and financial resources, so far the production of drones remains a future plan.
At the initial stage, the project will cover Kakheti and the suburbs of Tbilisi, however, the startup plans to develop all strategic locations.
"We already have customers, including powerful farmers, who have their own equipment but prefer our services. As for the cost of service, it will be closer to the standard.
The investment cost of the project has increased a lot, initially, GEL 65,000 was invested, more than half of which was with our participation. Added to this is a Gita 100,000 GEL grant and our 150,000 thousand private investment. We have a German investor who was interested in our project, but I can not give additional details at this stage, "said the founder of the startup.