Rafaela Jinich of Bloomberg reports that Pyka’s Pelican Spray, an autonomous electric crop duster, reduces emissions and chemical use in banana plantations, achieving 96% spray accuracy and enabling safer nighttime pest control. While adopted by major firms like Dole, its high costs and smaller tank capacity limit the widespread replacement of traditional gas-powered planes. The technology promises environmental and worker health benefits but faces scalability hurdles and potential job displacement for pilots. Jinich writes:
Crop dusting planes are a key tool for keeping banana plantations free from pests, but the practice causes significant environmental and climate damage.
A small but growing number of plantations are using a novel solution: autonomous electric crop dusters that target spraying, reducing emissions and risks to workers’ health.
Traditional crop-dusting methods can struggle with precision, increasing the amount of pesticide and fungicide sprayed. Chemicals commonly used on banana plantations up the risk of serious health problems for workers and nearby communities including sterility, cancer and neurological conditions, according to a 2023 literature review. The same study also found they damage local ecosystems and are particularly deadly to amphibians. […]
“Crop dusting is not a job you wish for your children to pursue; it’s inherently risky,” said Mark Gudiksen, managing partner at Piva Capital. The firm led Pyka’s $37 million Series A funding round along with Prelude Ventures and participated in a $40 million Series B announced in September. Automation is safer and could open up new jobs programming the drones to fly, he added, which will “shift the focus to managing technology rather than performing hazardous tasks.” […]
But Pyka also has other plans for its aircraft. They include transporting cargo with a craft that can accommodate a payload of up to 400 pounds and the ability to transport it up to 200 miles. Customers include the US Department of Defense.
“We see a future where electric aircraft are not just for niche applications but are integral to mainstream aviation across multiple sectors,” Norcia said.
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