Farming drone

Farming drone will optimize agriculture in San Jose de Quero district and help farmers to improve livestock production, the district's main economic activity.

My solution is to use farming drones to optimize agriculture in San Jose de Quero district, Peru. Farmers will use the drones not only to spray crops, which is what they are most famous for, but also to irrigate their crops. Most farmers in San Jose de Quero district have small pasture lands and croplands, so they don't need a large amount of water to irrigate them. In these cases, the farming drones could work wonders, as they have a capacity of 8 to 10 liters, and would be perfect for irrigating small crops. 

Farming drones would also help irrigation during non-rainy seasons. Generally, many farmers plant only during the rainy season and during the rest of the year they have no pasture or food production, so the cows' feed is affected and their performance decreases. These problems could be solved with the help of farming drones that would optimize agriculture and improve livestock production since pasture will be available at any time of the year. Cows will have better feed and produce higher amounts of high quality milk. 

In addition, farming drones will help to monitor crops more easily, as crops are located in remote areas.

I'm trying to solve two major issues San Jose de Quero's farmers face every year. 

The first one, the reduction of food crops and pastures during non-rainy seasons, which affects cattle performance. During non-rainy seasons in the district, which are generally from April to October, farmers don't have enough pastures to feed their cattle, which generates less cow milk production and severely affects the farmers' economic situation. 

Moreover, climate change has affected rainy seasons. This is not a problem exclusive to San Jose de Quero, the whole world is affected by climate change, which causes drought even in times that were supposed to be rainy. Climate change has severely affected the crops of San Jose de Quero's farmers.

The farming drone would help to solve this problem, as crops could be planted and irrigated at any time of the year.

According to research developed in New Zealand, milk production increases when pasture growth rises and decreases when it also does. This study demonstrates the importance of pastures to improve milk production.

Source: Shadbolt, N., Apparaob, D. 2016. Factors Influencing the Dairy Trade from New Zealand. https://www.ifama.org/resource...

The second one, the difficult access to certain crops makes crop monitoring a very risky and hard activity. Many crops are located in remote areas, on steep slopes and surrounded by large rocky portions. These conditions make crop monitoring difficult. 

The farming drone will solve these problems effectively. 

My solution serves the whole population of San Jose de Quero district, as they are all farmers and face the above mentioned problems every year. 

San Jose de Quero is a rural district with a large part of its population living in poverty or extreme poverty. Their only source of income is their animals such as sheep, pigs, and cows, whose feed is generally affected by the reduction of pastures during non-rainy seasons.  

To date they have not received any help or assistance from the government or any non-governmental organization to solve the problem of the reduction of pastures and food crops during the non-rainy seasons. San Jose de Quero's farmers have been left essentially to fend for themselves.

My solution will impact their lives on a large scale, as they will be able to produce pastures for their livestock and food for their consumption in seasons when they thought it would be impossible. Their cows will improve their feed and produce more liters of milk for the farmers to sell. Consequently, they will generate higher profits and improve their economic condition.

San Jose de Quero is my hometown. I've lived part of my childhood there and I've visited it many times since part of my family still lives there. I know the needs of my town, as I've seen it up close and personal. My family usually travels to our hometown to plant pastures, potatoes, and beans every year in November to take advantage of the rainy season. Unfortunately, in the last two years the rains have been infrequent and have affected the crops, preventing them from growing healthily. Not only has my family been affected by this problem, but also the whole hometown. 

I've deeply understood the needs of my people, the population I want to serve, and identified a great solution, the use of farming drones. This will not only help to solve this problem, but also to bring technology closer to the farmers. The interest of many young people and children in technology will be awakened and they will want to be more involved with technology, which is practically non-existent in my hometown. 

One of the potential and first users would be my family, since we will be in charge of acquiring the drone and learning how to operate it properly to use it in our crops. Then, my neighbors will be helped to irrigate their crops with the drone. Later, we will teach them how to operate it, so that they can do it on their own.

My solution is at the concept stage because it is an idea that I came up with after having seen up close and personally experienced the needs of my family and my people.

My solution is a new application of an existing technology, as we are planning to use a farming drone not only to spray crops, which is what farming drones are most famous for, but also to irrigate crops. Most farmers in San Jose de Quero district have small pasture lands and croplands, so they don't need a large amount of water to irrigate them. In these cases, the farming drones could work wonders, as they have a capacity of 8 to 10 liters, and would be perfect for irrigating small crops. 

In addition, a farming drone can easily access remote areas, which is difficult and takes a lot of time and effort for farmers. This innovative technology will save time and make irrigation an enjoyable activity. Moreover, this will bring technology closer to the farmers. The interest of many young people and children in technology will be awakened and they will want to be more involved with technology, which is practically non-existent in my hometown.

I plan to serve at least 5 families of approximately 6 members each. In total 30 people will be served by my solution next year. However, in the coming years, the farming drone could benefit many more families in the district, once the villagers become more confident in this type of technology as they see its effectiveness and positive impact on other crops. In this way, they will be more open and willing to accept to have their crops irrigated by drones and to learn how to operate it later on. Once this is achieved, each farmer will be required to irrigate their crop on a specific schedule so that other farmers will also have access to the drone to irrigate their crops.

In the coming years, my solution plans to impact as many families in San Jose de Quero district as possible once the farmers are confident in this type of technology.

• Reduce poverty and improve the economic situation of some families in the district of San Jose de Quero. This will be achieved by helping them increase their income by selling more liters of cow milk, better quality cattle, and food during non-rainy seasons when there are usually no crops or pastures to feed the cattle.

• Reduce hunger during non-harvest seasons. Generally, when there is no rain in San Jose de Quero, there are no crops. This forces farmers to resort to other means of obtaining food such as selling some of their livestock, leaving the village to work in the cities or in other countries, and working in the nearest mines. Many of these problems will be avoided by using a farming drone to irrigate the crop fields during non-rainy seasons. Farmers will be able to harvest food for consumption and for sale.
• Reduce the inequalities that exist between the residents of San Jose de Quero and the residents of the surrounding cities. San Jose de Quero's farmers should have incomes as high as those of some people and farmers who live in cities. This will be achieved when farmers generate more income from their sales. In addition, it will prevent more people from migrating to the cities.
• Awaken the interest of young people and children of San Jose de Quero in technology.  This will be achieved by teaching them how to operate a farming drone. Once they learn, they will want to be more involved with technology.

I'm planning to measure my progress toward my impact goals with the following indicators:

• Income per month. This will help us to know how much more money the villagers of San Jose de Quero are raising after using the farming drone to irrigate their crops during non-rainy seasons and get more pastures and food. 
• Kilos of food produced per crop in non-rainy seasons. This indicator will help us to know how much food will be available for villagers' consumption and for sale. 
• Liters of milk produced and sold per day. This will help us to know how many liters of milk the cows produce per day and how many liters are sold by farmers.
• The number of adults, youth and children who learned how to operate the farming drone. This indicator will show us to what extent the farming drone awakened the interest of the villagers of San José de Quero in the technology.

• The main barrier for me to accomplish my goals in the next year is the financial one. The price for acquiring a farming drone is high. It takes a lot of money to buy a farming drone. Also, these are only sold in the capital of my country or through the internet.
• Another barrier is the economic situation in my country. This has affected the whole country, not only the farmers in San Jose de Quero, making it very difficult for many people to get out of poverty.

Currently, I'm the only person working on my solution, as it's in the concept stage. However, once my solution moves to the pilot stage, more people will join my team including my dad, mom, and siblings.

Anghy Aquino (team lead): 

I'm a 22-year-old engineering graduate. I've learned to operate topographic instruments and rock mechanics equipment in college, so I have enough skills to operate a farming drone after receiving proper training.  

I'm strongly linked to San Jose de Quero's people, the population I want to serve, as it's my hometown. Like my neighbors, my family has also been affected by the reduction of pasture and food crops during non-rainy seasons. I have a deep understanding of my people's needs, as I've seen it up close and personal. 

Nixon Aquino (father): 

He's been a farmer almost all his life. He was born and lived all his youth in San Jose de Quero. He started planting and raising cows in our town at a very young age. Later, he traveled to the United States to work as a rancher. Now, he works as a carpenter, but he visits our town constantly to plant and monitor our crops. My dad has vast experience as a farmer. With his help, the successful implementation of my solution is guaranteed.

Rosario Martínez (mother): 

She's also been a farmer since she was very young. She has a lot of knowledge about crops and raising cows. She also visits our village frequently to plant and monitor our crops. 

Nikx and Roy Aquino (siblings): 

They will also be of great help in implementing my solution, as they know the village very well.

Currently, I don't partner with any organization.

Unfortunately, I am over 18 years old and don't qualify for The HP Girls Save the World Prize, although I would like to to be considered for it.

I qualify and would like to be considered for The Pozen Social Innovation Prize for the following reasons:

The first one, my solution will positively impact the lives of many female farmers (women and girls). Due to the difficult economic conditions in which the families of San Jose de Quero lived, many men had to leave the town and migrate to the cities to work, leaving the women (wives, mothers, sisters, daughters) in charge of planting and caring for the cattle. Currently, the majority of farmers in San Jose de Quero are women. My solution aims to help these women irrigate their crops during non-rainy seasons using farming drones. This will help them produce pastures to better feed their livestock and food for consumption and sale in non-rainy seasons. In this way, they will be able to increase their income and improve their economic condition by selling more liters of cow milk, better quality cattle, and food.

My aunt and her cows

My grandmother, my cousin, and their cows

My mother at my grandmother's house

My aunt

The second one, my proposed solution will help female farmers to build greater resilience to the effects of climate change, as it is also affecting rainy seasons and causing drought even in times that were supposed to be rainy. Climate change has seriously affected farmers and their crops. Nevertheless, they will be able to build greater resilience to this problem by using farming drones.

The third one, I am a woman who fights every day to make the world a better place. I love to propose solutions to different social problems that affect my community and present them in different contests and platforms to get support and funds for launching them. In addition, I constantly participate in activities that seek to promote environmental care and mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Some of my work:

My Instagram account

My Facebook account

My Linkedin account

Organic manure preparation online video competition

Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) Slogan Writing Competition

The 14th Eco-generation Environmental Essay Competition

2021 HIDDEN ECO-HERO AWARDS

2021 Youth Innovation Challenge

The Pozen Social Innovation Prize will help me greatly, as my team will be able to acquire more farming drones to help more families in San Jose de Quero district to irrigate their crops. Moreover, I will gain more exposure for potential sponsors to expand my solution in other districts and communities affected by the reduction of pasture and food crops during non-rainy seasons, among them could be the mines near the district of San Jose de Quero.