Macadamia South Africa NPC, SAMAC, has confirmed South African agritech and precision farming company, Aerobotics as an associate member. SAMAC is an association of Macadamia industry role-players.
SAMAC makes such confirmation as Aerobotic’s on merit. This is as confirmation results from special qualifications, experience, or added value to the South African Macadamia industry.

Aerobotics are a team of agronomists, engineers, product developers, creatives and customer service experts. They have a mission to provide customers with intelligent tools throughout every season. Thus, as a result of Aerobotics, farmers can monitor every crop and assess the effectiveness of interventions related to pests, diseases, soil-related challenges, and many other operational concerns in the early stages of production.

The importance of agritech solutions concerning efficient and sustainable management of Macadamia orchards across the country is elucidated by SAMAC’s devotion to broad-based research and development in the sector.

As envisaged by SAMAC, the union between Aerobotics and SAMAC encourages the ingenuity of South African Macadamia farmers. This is especially regarding farmers who leverage crop insights such as those provided by Aerobotics. Thus, the association will further strengthen SAMAC’s aim to ensure the future success of the Macadamia industry.

Aerobotics takes aerial images of mainly agricultural areas using drones and satellites and potentially aeroplanes. The company channels this data into a smart scouting platform. The platform consequently helps farmers identify pests and diseases in the tree crop space early. As a result, farmers already see the value of Aerobotic’s work. This is as  40% of the South African Macadamia nut industry, 20% of the country’s citrus growers, and 170,000 hectares of vineyards are using the software already.