"Dotnuva Baltic and Nando Droid start cooperation to promote drones in Lithuania

The companies signing the cooperation agreement will jointly develop the drone business in Lithuania. „Nando Droid“, representing the world's leading drone manufacturer DJI, will continue to focus on product supply, technology dissemination and after-sales service and training, while „Dotnuva Baltic“ will become a new sales and consulting channel for farmers. The companies predict that the number of farms in Lithuania that have purchased multi-purpose agro drones will increase fivefold in a few years.

In farming, drones cannot completely replace self-propelled machinery, but they are an indispensable solution in certain weather conditions or specific field layouts. Drone spraying is not regulated in Lithuania for plant protection products, but micro-nutrient fertilisers, biologicals, seed spreading and field scanning for plant viability and variable rate mapping are possible. The drones are fully autonomous, with operating speeds of up to 21 ha/hour, drone performance of up to 200 ha/hour for plant viability detection and a reduction in water consumption of up to 95% due to the small droplet size.

„In our contacts with farmers in the Baltic States, we see that the demand and popularity of drones is growing. Drones are a much needed solution for faster and more efficient crop maintenance and sowing. In addition, scanning fields and collecting crop data is very promising. By adding this product to our existing range of agricultural machinery, equipment and services, we will be able to better meet the needs of our customers. We believe that our experience and expertise will allow us to offer agro drones to every farm and thus contribute to the growth of their results," says Dangis Valaitis, Managing Director of „Dotnuva Baltic“.

Mykolas Treigys, representative of „Nando Droid“, points out that he chose from several potential partners that could contribute to the development of DJI's agro-drone business in Lithuania. We were looking for a partner to help us develop our drone business. To do this, it is important to know the specifics of agriculture, to listen to our customers' needs and to help them find innovative technological solutions. Together with „Dotnuva Baltic“, we will take care of the sales and promotion of drones, and we will continue to focus on market needs analysis, education of farmers about drone technology and after-sales service.

The sales and service of DJI drones for agriculture will be developed only in Lithuania for the time being by the companies signing the cooperation agreement, as „Nando's Droid“ has other representative companies in Latvia and Estonia. However, it has been agreed that practical experience in the use of drones and the potential of the technology will be shared between them. The common goal will be to promote drones among advanced farms in the Baltic States.

Both companies believe that by working together they will help the agricultural sector to grow and adapt faster to the current challenges such as changing climate conditions, stricter environmental requirements and rising farm costs. The hope is to help farms reap greater economic benefits & earn more per hectare.

Drones are currently deployed on more than 20 crop farms in Lithuania, with an average farm size of 500 ha. Experience shows that drone purchases are most attractive for farms that have invested in process automation, data digitisation and advanced technical solutions such as a self-propelled sprayer for years to come.

The use of drones in agriculture varies widely across European countries. In Latvia, drones are much more popular than in Lithuania, with more than 10 new drones a year. In Slovakia, which is similar in size to Lithuania, more than 50 drones a year start working on farms. Romania leads the way in the number of drones, with 150 new drones sold per year. Ukraine was a world leader in the use of drones in the agro sector before the war, with more than a thousand drones a year on farms there. Large farms there use as many as 5 or more drones. Meanwhile, scanning drones for crop monitoring and mapping variable spray rates are used by many farmers around the world as they bring significant benefits for a small investment.

Experience from other countries shows that drones are proving their worth on farms, and it is expected that dozens of farms in Lithuania will adopt drones in the coming years. The return on investment for a drone can be very fast if it is used in a timely and targeted way. Nando Droid's experts provide professional advice, training and after-sales service for the purchase of a new DJI drone.