Report on the State of the Knowledge – Literature Review on Unmanned Aerial Spray Systems in Agriculture

The use of Unmanned Aerial Spray Systems (UASSs) has the potential to improve the sustainability of pesticide use. Appropriately regulated use of this technology and pesticides they apply could provide benefits such as: reductions in worker exposures (in comparison to some current spraying equipment); better quality applications in difficult to access situations (e.g., sloped vineyards), and the ability for greater use of precise zone or spot application. In order to ensure that potential benefits are realised, suitable data and information must be available to regulators to assess, in particular: the nature of risks arising from UASS applications, for example exposures resulting from work practices and spray drift; and if/how product efficacy might be impacted. This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge and outlines how the risk associated with UASSs applications could be viewed and addressed.