Biostimulants and drone spraying

Drone spraying is developing rapidly in Hungary and has moved from a specialist service to a mainstream precision-application tool for crop protection and foliar nutrition. Although previously seen as a niche or experimental, it is now becoming a really useful solution in wet seasons, on difficult terrain and when spraying high-value crops. It has shown clear benefits for accuracy, efficiency and reducing crop damage.

In just three seasons, the Danuba team has expanded from three professional pilots to a fully certified national operation offering high-precision spraying and field monitoring, including weed assessment and crop condition analysis.

Certification to fly drones for these purposes is stringent, and operators and machines must both be licensed. National coordination for drone spraying only began in 2022, meaning Hungary is still in the early stages of regulatory development, but this is moving quickly.

Danuba is directly supporting the authorities with trials, which will speed up the availability of more active ingredients, eventually including a wider range of foliar nutrition products. Approval is especially important because Hungary has 4.3 million ha of arable land that experiences frequent waterlogging and other increasingly extreme weather, often leading to significant soil compaction and crop damage from ground machinery. All these pressures are accelerating interest in drone-based solutions.

Current applications include:

1. Weed control in inaccessible fields

When soils are too wet for tractors or self-propelled sprayers, drones enable timely herbicide applications without delaying the growth cycle.

2. Insecticide and fungicide spraying

The drone offers excellent canopy penetration in orchard and vineyard crops, and reduced drift in row crops.

3. Foliar fertilisation using IntraCrop products

This includes:

• Status®  (0.2 L/ha)
• Nutrino Pro (10–20 L/ha)

No additional water is required for mixing and our products are often tank-mixed with plant protection treatments. The Status® + Coragen package is especially popular, combining effective pest control and a biostimulant with proven physiological effects.

4. Monitoring and weed assessment

RTK-enabled drones provide centimetre-accurate field mapping, supporting variable-rate decisions and pre-spray planning.

6. Challenging terrain and high-value crops

Drone spraying is proving especially beneficial in:

• Orchards (walnut, cherry, sour cherry)
• Vineyards (Tricho Immun, fungicides, and foliar fertilisers)
• Maize (Coragen)
• Forestry (herbicides)
• Sunflower (Status® foliar feeding; desiccation)

In these areas drones are far more effective than ground machinery, providing safe and efficient application where wheeled sprayers cannot operate.

In addition, conventional machine spraying costs £15.5–25.5/ha, but drones save costs by avoiding soil compaction, preventing crop trampling, enabling timely applications in wet seasons and reducing machinery wear.

Over the next few seasons, it is expected that there will be more pesticide approvals and broader adoption across arable crops, especially in cereals, maize, sunflower and oilseed rape. Increased use is likely particularly for cover cropping and inter-row sowing.

The Danuba team is eagerly anticipating the arrival of their new DJI T100 drones, which represent a significant upgrade in operational capability. With a payload capacity of up to 100 kg, the T100 will enable the team to deploy substantially higher water volumes, enhancing efficiency and overall performance.

IntraCrop’s foliar products are already well established in this system and have shown great results via drone spraying. We look forward to seeing the system develop further.