UAVs open new pathways for agriculture in Dien Bien

According to statistics, Viet Nam’s logistics costs remain high, accounting for around 16.5% of GDP. For mountainous and highly fragmented provinces such as Dien Bien, transporting agricultural products is even more challenging, increasing costs and reducing product quality.

In response to these practical demands, Dien Bien Province has launched a pilot project applying UAV technology in agriculture under a sandbox model - a controlled testing framework. The project focuses on key crops such as tea, coffee, and macadamia, covering production, monitoring, and transportation processes.

Under the project, UAVs are being used across multiple stages of agricultural production, including pesticide spraying, fertilization, seeding, crop growth monitoring using sensors and cameras, and transporting agricultural inputs and post-harvest produce. The integration of these functions allows UAVs to serve not only as production support tools but also as active components within the agricultural value chain.

Practical results have demonstrated a significant difference. Previously, manual spraying on one hectare of crops could take between two and three hours, or even several days in mountainous areas. With UAVs, the same process now takes only minutes. In addition to reducing labor, water consumption has also dropped considerably, from around 200 liters per hectare to just 30-50 liters per hectare.

At Ang Cang Lake in Manh Danh Village, a UAV pilot demonstration coordinated by the Dien Bien Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with Viet Nam Post Corporation was recently organized. The activity involved local farmers to ensure the trials reflected actual production conditions. During the demonstration, UAVs were used to spray foliar fertilizer on coffee trees, showing effectiveness in reducing labor requirements, improving precision, and minimizing the spread of chemicals into the environment.

Initial implementation results indicate that this technology is well suited to mountainous terrain conditions. In Ta La Cao area, Sinh Phinh Commune, a pilot model using UAVs to transport tea across an area of around 8 hectares was selected for deployment to evaluate operational procedures and practical efficiency. Since fresh tea leaves must be transported for preliminary processing within two to three hours after harvest, UAVs help shorten transportation time, reduce handling damage, and preserve the quality of raw tea materials.

Similarly, for coffee production, Hua Nam area in Muong Ang Commune was chosen for UAV-based post-harvest transport applications due to its large cultivation area, steep terrain, and long transportation distances, where each trip by road can take between 45 and 60 minutes. These conditions provide a suitable environment for assessing the effectiveness of UAVs in reducing transportation time and logistics costs. For macadamia cultivation, remote areas such as Ban Cu in Tuan Giao Commune have also introduced UAVs to test their ability to optimize transport in challenging terrain.

The project aims to conduct between 300 and 500 trial flights, with at least three to five application models across around 10 implementation areas over a period of 12 to 24 months. All flight activities are managed, monitored, and digitally recorded to evaluate effectiveness and support policy refinement.

According to Mr. Vu Anh Dung, Director of the Dien Bien Department of Science and Technology, the use of UAVs not only helps reduce costs but also helps transform production methods. The project’s objective is to verify the practical effectiveness of UAV technology in mountainous terrain, thereby laying the groundwork for wider adoption and the gradual development of a modern, sustainable agricultural sector.

Initial results also indicate that UAVs can reduce transportation time and costs by 20-30% compared to traditional methods, while cutting post-harvest losses by 10-20% thanks to faster transportation. In addition, more than 50% of surveyed farmers and businesses expressed willingness to continue using UAV services if clear benefits are demonstrated.

However, the implementation of the project also faces several challenges, including uneven telecommunications infrastructure in some areas, stringent flight safety requirements, and the need for trained personnel capable of operating the equipment. These are issues that will need to be further addressed throughout the pilot phase.

Although many challenges remain, the application of UAVs in agricultural production is proving to be a suitable approach for Dien Bien’s conditions. Beyond reducing costs and improving production efficiency, this technology also opens up opportunities for developing a “low-altitude economy,” creating new momentum for the growth of agriculture and the local economy in the coming years.