Astral Aerial, a drones service company, will enhance last-mile air cargo delivery as well as its crop spraying solutions, thanks to a recent deal with Yamaha. The local drone service company will introduce Yamaha’s Fazer R G2 drone, an unmanned aircraft for automated flights to uninhabited areas in the Kenyan Market.
Signed at TICAD7, the new partnership will revolutionize agriculture in Kenya as well as cement Kenya’s partnership with Japan.
The use of Drone technology in agriculture is gaining traction. Goldman Sachs anticipates that the sector will be the second-largest user of drone technology in the next 5 years. Speaking at the TICAD conference in Yokohama, Astral Aviation CEO & Founder, Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia expressed his optimism in the partnership, hoping that it will enhance both companies‘ missions.
“Our association with Yamaha will provide us with the necessary impetus to scale our delivery capacity in the agricultural and civil engineering fields as the Fazer range of drones enjoy an unrivaled and proven reputation in agricultural performance…” he commented.
The Fazer’s features make it an ideal device for agricultural applications. The helicopter recently received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for aerial fungicide application. Additionally, Japan uses Yamaha’s unmanned technology to carry out pest control in 35% of the country’s rice fields.
At the same time, the partnership will equip Astral with new technology to power their agricultural solutions. Currently, Astral uses drones for crop spraying, crop health monitoring , and livestock monitoring among other uses.
The Fazer will reinforce Aerial’s 4 kg payload small drones since it allows a maximum payload of 35kg and a cruising range of 90km. The company’s drones offer humanitarian cargo air transport agriculture, medical deliveries and aerial map[ping among other services.
