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XAG Deploys Drones for Whitewash for Green House

• XAG joined hands with Fresh Flowers Group on Drones spraying operation on Green House located in NSW

• Drones with intelligent spraying systems were used to distribute the liquid evenly on the roof

• The trial project demonstrates efficient and cost-effective methods in whitewash applications.

Fresh Flowers Group - Greenhouse

AUSTRALIA, 13 October 2020

Light levels in the summer regularly exceed the usable level by plants, and excess light may result in high-light damage. Shade is used to reduce the temperature and light inside a greenhouse. The radiant energy from the sun can easily build up inside of a greenhouse during the summer and increase temperatures beyond the desired range for many crops.

Two Ways to Provide Shade in A Greenhouse

There are two primary options for providing shade: shading compound or whitewash; or shade curtains or shade cloth. Each of these options has distinct advantages and disadvantages, which warrant consideration when deciding how to reduce light and temperature in the greenhouse.

Shade compound, or whitewash, is a paint-like substance applied to greenhouse covering. The magnitude of shading for shade compound is dependent on how much the original material is diluted at a higher dilution of shade compound results in less shade, whereas a higher concentration of compound increases shading.

The costs associated with using shade compounds are primarily the labor to apply and remove the shading compound, as the actual material is not very expensive, though the labor costs will be incurred each year shade is applied.

Applying Whitewash for Greenhouse (Traditional method)

In the previous years, the manual method was for its labor to stand on the roof and manually apply the shade compound with a brush, roller, or sprayer. For an area of 6000 sqm, it requires 20 barrels of Whitewash at a market price of $85 dollars over the period of 2 Days to complete the work. Landowners and managers find the traditional application labor-intensive and time-consuming in comparison to the drone application.

During this trial, XAG utilized 1 unit of its P30 2020 to distribute the whitewash directly for the roof of the Green House. It is the first time that XAG drones are used to apply whitewash for a Greenhouse, XAG drones allow spraying to be done on the Greenhouse evenly and time efficiently.

Utilizing XAG Drones for Greenhouse shading

In comparison, XAG drones had completed the 6000 sqm of the roof within half a day, greatly increasing the efficiency, and significantly reduced the total usage of 12 barrels (60%). Results can be seen in the photos, which is simply great and even.

Before / After Image