PHICHIT: A local farmer who began using a drone to spray his family's paddy fields a month ago is now providing the service for neighbours struggling with the problem of labour shortages and wages - and his new business continues to grow.
Metarawit Duangkul, who is in his 30s, is employed as a local government official, but his extended family are rice farmers and faced with a shortage of labour to help tend and harvest their crop.
His mother alone grows about 100 rai of paddy in Thap Khlo district.
So he sought a loan and bought a drone that could carry 10 litres of liquid per flight, as a possible means to solve the problem. The drone cost him 250,000 baht.
He also undertook training in the use of chemical sprays and then began using the drone to deliver fertilizers, pesticides and weedkillers to his family's fields. Each flight covered 3-4 rai. (continues below)
Preparing the drone for a flight spraying chemicals over a field. (Photo by Sitthipoj Kebui)
His neighbours were impressed and quickly hired him to spray their fields. So it became a sideline job in the evenings and on holidays, Mr Metarawit said.
Word has spread, and other farmers in Phichit and nearby areas are now looking to obtain his services.
He charges 59 baht per rai undercutting other service providers who charge 65 baht a rai. His customers must provide him with the chemicals. "It takes only a few minutes to cover each rai of farmland," Mr Metarawit said.
"I also advise customers on organic farming and reduction of use of chemicals," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Metarawit continues to work as secretary to an assistant governor of the province.