Questions about drone spraying
Spraying costs €20 to 25/ha, you supply the product and the water at the field, and we do not charge for coming out within 50 km of Opovo.
About the service
We spray eight main crops: maize, sunflower, wheat, soybean, oilseed rape, orchards, vineyards and vegetables. Each crop page explains in detail what is done by drone and when: maize, sunflower, wheat, soybean, oilseed rape, orchards, vineyards and vegetables. Orchards, vineyards and vegetables carry a surcharge of €10/ha, solely because they use more water and need more flights.
Our core services are spraying, foliar feeding, desiccation, fertiliser spreading and seeding. On separate request we also do field mapping, greenhouse shading and mosquito control. Spraying, foliar feeding and desiccation (chemical drying before harvest) cost the same: €20 to 25/ha. Fertiliser spreading and seeding is a flat €40/ha for any area. The price of mapping and consulting, external greenhouse shading as a service and mosquito control is agreed by phone according to the scope of the job.
We work across the whole of Serbia, with our base in Opovo. Within 50 km of Opovo we do not charge travel, which covers places such as Kovačica (22 km), Pančevo (31 km), Belgrade (34 km) and Zrenjanin (45 km). For more distant sites, travel is charged at €1 for each kilometre beyond 50. For details on work in our immediate area, see Opovo and surroundings.
Yes, but we do plots under 10 ha only within 20 km of Opovo: this includes places such as Opovo, Baranda, Dunavac, Sefkerin, Sakule, Čenta, Glogonj, Debeljača, Padinska Skela, Idvor, Jabuka and Kovilovo. For all locations outside that radius, the minimum order is 10 ha.
When plots are close together, we cover about 20 ha an hour. If fields are scattered across the district, output depends directly on the time needed to move the equipment. Over a whole day, the drone does roughly twice what a tractor sprayer does, so a 100 ha plot is finished in a few hours and an important treatment (for example fungicide at wheat flowering) is applied in time.
The fastest way is to call us or message us on Viber or WhatsApp at 069 161 8228. Have the crop, area, plot location and type of treatment ready. If you want to check the cost first, use our calculator: after the calculation you can message us directly with the price already worked out. You can also use the form on the contact page.
The date is agreed in the first conversation, fitted to the agronomic window for your crop and the weather forecast. At the peak of the season, plots in contracted treatment packages have absolute priority. We recommend calling as soon as you get a notice from the advisory service (for example when a corn borer flight is announced), so we can book the date in time.
After the flight you get a precise report from the app with the exact number of hectares treated, and then we always check that you are satisfied with the result; we publish your feedback on the site only with your consent. Keep the date and the name of the product applied together with that report: they are the key data for calculating the pre-harvest interval and finding the first safe day for harvest. For the intervals explained, see pre-harvest and re-entry intervals.
Price and payment
The price is €25/ha for areas up to 20 ha, €22/ha from 20 to 100 ha and €20/ha above 100 ha. This price list applies to crop protection, foliar feeding and desiccation. Orchards, vineyards and vegetables carry a mandatory surcharge of €10/ha. Example: a new client with 25 ha of maize in Kovačica pays €528, with one hectare free. All details and examples are in the price list.
Within 50 km of Opovo, travel is free. For longer distances, each kilometre beyond 50 is charged at €1 (counted one way, along the road network, for each visit). For example, travel to Novi Sad (79 km) is €29, and to Vršac (91 km) it is €41. Clients who contract packages for 50 ha or more carry no travel cost. The calculator works this out automatically.
Yes: we offer 5% off for 3 treatments and 10% off for 5 or more treatments on the same plot in one season. Any service charged per hectare can go into a package. For example, on 40 ha of sunflower, three sprayings at €22/ha cost €2,640, and with the 5% discount you save €132.
In cash, after the job is finished. For large jobs of 50 ha or more, a 30% advance is required before work starts, and the rest is settled at the end. If you have a contracted package, payment is made treatment by treatment, after each one.
No: you supply the product and the clean water; our price covers only the flight and the application. For how much water to prepare, see the section Field preparation.
For a contract tractor, no. In Banat, contract spraying by tractor costs about 2,000 dinars per cadastral jutro (about €30/ha), while the drone costs €20 to 25/ha. In a tall crop the tractor also permanently flattens 5 to 6% of the plants, which on 25 ha of maize means losing the yield of more than one hectare. If you have your own tractor, the drone is dearer only if you leave out the machine's depreciation, your own time and the value of the flattened crop. The tractor remains the better choice only for herbicides at early stages. For the detailed calculation, see drone or tractor spraying.
First hectare free
All new clients, on a first order of at least 10 ha. For a 25 ha maize plot that is a discount of €22, and for a 15 ha orchard the saving is €35.
Yes, and it is deducted straight away at the first treatment, before the percentage package discount is calculated. All other treatments in the package are charged at the reduced price.
No, this offer applies only to orders of 10 ha and up. Plots under 10 ha are sprayed within 20 km of Opovo, at the full price.
Wind, rain and heat
We work in wind up to 3 to 5 m/s, which corresponds to 11 to 18 km/h in weather forecasts. If the wind at the field goes above this limit, we pause the flight and resume only when conditions settle. For herbicides and products prone to drift, we follow the drone manufacturer's strict recommendation and fly only below 3 m/s, while the absolute limit of the system is 6 m/s (DJI, Agras T70P manual, p. 28). For a detailed table of wind strength and its effect on drift, see the article drift in drone spraying.
Yes, as soon as the access road to the plot has dried. The drone takes off from the edge of the field, so mud between the rows is not a problem for us. If there is a hard, paved road to the plot, we spray on the same day after heavy rainfall. In those situations a tractor loses 2 to 5 valuable days.
No. In the hottest part of the day we always stop work and wait for it to cool. High temperatures and low air humidity make droplets evaporate, close the stomata on the leaves and sharply reduce how well the product works. For spraying, a temperature below 25 °C and air humidity above 30% are recommended (agroklub.rs, citing Agrarheute).
Drift, neighbours and bees
We keep drift to a minimum with three strict rules: we do not fly when the wind is above 3 to 5 m/s, we fly low (only 3 m above the crop tops) and we rely on the strong downward thrust of the rotors, which pushes the droplets straight into the crop. In a field trial with a drone using centrifugal nozzles, like the T70P, about ten times less product landed 12 m downwind than on the treated strip, and almost none at 50 m (Wang et al., 2020). For all the measurements and rules, see the article drift in drone spraying.
Only as a last resort: when mud keeps a tractor out of the field for days and the crop outgrows the window. Even then we work only if the neighbouring plots carry the same crops, which the herbicide cannot harm. We mainly use the drone for fungicides, insecticides, feeding and desiccation.
Before every take-off with insecticides, we notify local beekeepers so they can close their hives in time. If you know who keeps hives near your field, please tell us. How safe a product is for bees depends solely on the product chosen, and the rules for its use (and its toxicity) are always on the label.
Yes, the product reaches the lower layers of the plant. The drone breaks the liquid into droplets of 50 to 500 microns (DJI, specifications), and the strong air from the rotors physically parts the plants and drives those droplets deep into the canopy. In practice, with only 15 to 20 litres of water per hectare, the drone controls small pests (such as rape pollen beetle or mites in soybean) that hide on the lowest leaves.
Field preparation
Your only obligations are to supply the product, the water and an access road to the plot (with a few flat square metres for take-off). We come to the field in an off-road vehicle with a fully self-sufficient trailer: we carry the drone, battery charging generators and our own tank, so we need no electricity on the plot. Our agronomist mixes the product.
For field crops the rate is 15 to 20 litres per hectare (for a 25 ha plot you need 375 to 500 litres of clean water). We fill our tank together before the job starts; for larger jobs you need to arrange water in tanks or IBC containers. Orchards and vineyards need much more water, and we agree the exact amount when you call. The amount of active substance (product) per hectare stays identical to what the label prescribes.
You do, relying on the advice of your agronomist or the recommendation of the agricultural advisory service. Our job is the application; responsibility for the choice of chemistry, pre-harvest interval and dose lies with whoever runs crop protection. For the safety intervals explained, see the article pre-harvest and re-entry intervals.
- First hectare free
Work out your price or call us directly
Tell us the crop, the exact area and the location of your plot: we will confirm the final price, including travel, straight away and book the first free slot.