Delta Drone and Bureau Veritas Ink Deal to Develop Agricultural Drone Solutions in Côte d’Ivoire

Civilian professional drone manufacturer Delta Drone and inspection and certification services provider Bureau Veritas Afrique have announced the ‘inking’ of partnership to develop solutions together for precision agriculture in Côte d’Ivoire and various other countries in West Africa.

The stated purpose is to consolidate Bureau Veritas’ ground data (analyses of soil, leaves, roots, etc.) with aerial data acquired via drone by Delta Drone in order to develop a precision-farming product line.

Image Credit: Delta Drone

This product line will specialize in servicing various plantations (rubber trees, banana trees, oil palms, etc.) and will allow for the delivery of information such as the number of trees, strength and homogeneity of plant development, identification of areas of vegetation stress, analysis of general health conditions, steering of fertilization and irrigation, etc.

A successful initial proof-of-concept phase was carried out jointly in June, on three different sites, which made it possible to show site managers the effectiveness and relevance of the solutions in question.

Delta Y is a “plane”-type fixed-wing UAV. It can cover long distances and perform flights at an elevation of 150 m (regulated height defined by the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Concerning the signature of this partnership agreement, Marc Roussel, Senior Vice-President Africa of Bureau Veritas, said, “one of our goals, looking forward to 2020, is for Bureau Veritas to be a leading agri-food player in Africa. The development of precision agriculture will be an important step in implementing our growth plan in the agricultural sector. Today, precision agriculture is indispensable to minimize risk and maximize returns for growers. Bureau Veritas will take advantage of Delta Drone’s know-how and experience so that it can provide its clients with a more comprehensive service.”

For his part, Christian Viguié, Chairman and CEO of Delta Drone, said, “As a pioneer in the burgeoning sector of civilian drones for professional use, Delta Drone built a complete value chain in order to provide its clients with business solutions that consider the safety or people and property, and acquires aerial data and then processes and delivers it in a format adapted to client needs. In each sector it addresses, Delta Drone relies on partnerships with expert companies that are leaders in their field. In this respect, the collaboration with Bureau Veritas is perfectly in line with this tradition of excellence to serve the agricultural sector in Africa.”