as long as you have money to buy drones, you can become a pilot - revealed an agricultural drone owner in Dong Thap to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, showing a huge flaw in the management of high-tech vehicles that is increasingly flourishing in all fields in the Western Region. Just instruct the loudspeaker through a few simple steps, the equipment supplier will also issue "steering" to farmers, even "cover" the documents for the drone to operate. It is as easy as buying vegetables, just need money.
It is not difficult to imagine that the consequences of this easy profit are inevitable. Just because of a "reckless" coup by an agricultural drone, a person in Hon Dat district (Kien Giang province) died. A collision with a 110kV power line of an agricultural drone caused a power outage for 76,000 households in 6 districts and towns in Dong Thap Muoi. But more worryingly, an "matrix" of agricultural drone services for profit is ready to spray pesticides regardless, leading to rice plants being poisoned by chemicals surrounding farmers.
To be fair, the appearance of agricultural drones is a breakthrough achievement. It not only makes mud-wshipped farmers suddenly "4.0 farmers" in footless fields, but also an effective solution to the problem of labor shortage in rural areas today.
However, the effectiveness of this scientific advancement can only be optimized to help farmers increase productivity and reduce costs when it is operated by well-trained people. Agricultural drone controllers not only need to be proficient in the technical and technological characteristics of the equipment but also have a good grasp of agricultural knowledge, plant protection standards, etc.
Looking at the country with a similar agriculture to Vietnam, Thailand, they have built a training program to manage the operation of this equipment. To have the right to control drone equipment in agricultural production, it is mandatory to complete a training course coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture with the Ministry of Health and the Civil Aviation Authority. That is, for an agricultural drone to take off, the operator must not only be knowledgeable about the equipment's techniques but also be trained in flight safety regulations, agricultural knowledge, and knowledge about health insurance.
In our country, although the licensing period has been relaxed to a maximum of 180 days for agricultural drones, according to Official Dispatch No. 4123/BQP-TM dated November 11, 2020 of the Ministry of National Defense, flight operations must still be subject to the management and supervision of military units and flight licenses must have full charts and appendices showing coordinates, place names, and flight area limits.
Obviously, if the facility had been strictly managed according to regulations, there would not have been drone strikes on road users or high-voltage power lines as before. If agricultural knowledge is well trained, there will be no matrix for spraying pesticides regardless, causing rice plants to be poisoned by chemicals.
It is time to have a framework of standards for training and managing agricultural drone controllers in a systematic and strict manner, so that agricultural drones are truly "heroes" in the fields, not the order after each takeoff.
