Importancia de la innovación en el sector agropecuario: caso uso de drones no tripulados en la provincia de El Oro.

Abstract

There have been several agricultural revolutions throughout history. Among these, the last one, known as agriculture 4.0, includes the implementation of innovation, scientific research, social sustainability and technology transfer within agriculture. Ecuador is a country with the resources to become an agri-food power. However, the lack of integration of knowledge management in agricultural activities has triggered a comparable delay with developed countries. The province of El Oro has a significant participation with the production of export bananas, establishing itself as the third largest in Ecuador. Despite this, during 2021, the banana sector had a decrease in investments compared to the previous year. Factors such as high prices for disease control, agricultural inputs, fuel, lack of labour, and technical assistance significantly affected productivity. Therefore, there is an opportunity for agro-industrial development that includes the use of precision agriculture within the banana production sector. It is relevant to know that the union between technology and the Orense agricultural sector with the implementation of drones, would allow a productive development that would generate an increase in productivity for the agribusiness sector with benefits that include precision agriculture, care for the environment, and quantitative analysis at all stages of crop development.