01Fix the plot and crop boundaries first
Selection starts with the work, not the machine: plot size and shape (contiguous fields vs scattered small plots), crop type and height (rice, wheat, orchards and cotton differ hugely), terrain and slope, and local spraying practice (formulation, volume per hectare). Large contiguous fields favour throughput and payload; orchards and hills demand terrain-following and obstacle avoidance; scattered plots raise transit cost and transport convenience. Write these as structured requirements to avoid buying something unusable.
- Contiguous fields: payload and throughput first
- Orchards / hills: terrain-following, avoidance, stability first
- Scattered plots: transit, transportability, fast setup
02Payload and swath set daily throughput
Daily throughput is the true capacity metric for a spraying team, set jointly by payload, swath, working speed, and refill / battery-swap time. Ask for area per unit time, not just payload: a bigger tank cuts refill trips but adds weight and battery draw, while swath and droplet size drive coverage and drift risk. Also check nozzle type (centrifugal / pressure), flow-control accuracy and variable-rate capability, and pump corrosion resistance.
03Powertrain and battery configuration
Agri spraying is high-rate plus high-frequency cycling: a fully loaded take-off is heavy, climb and wind resistance demand peak power, and a day may see a dozen-plus cycles. Cells must therefore satisfy three conditions at once: sufficient peak C-rate (to avoid altitude loss), long cycle life (setting daily and seasonal cost) and usable low-temperature performance (early spring and late autumn work). Specify hectares per battery pack and charge / discharge cycle count, and compute cost per hectare rather than comparing machine and cell prices in isolation. Spare pack count and the charging scheme (fast charge vs swap) directly cap daily output.
04Flight control, RTK and obstacle avoidance
Flight control and navigation set work quality and safety: RTK markedly improves track accuracy and edge matching, cutting overlap and misses; terrain-following radar / lidar holds height above ground in hills and orchards; obstacle avoidance (vision / radar) is essential in orchards, tree lines and dense wiring. Also examine resume-from-break spraying, route-planning usability, return strategy in signal-loss areas and failsafe logic. Exportable operation records and tracks matter greatly for service-team billing and dispute handling.
05Licences, insurance and operational compliance
Licensing for agri-drone operations differs widely by country and region: operator qualification, operating permits, airspace filing, pesticide-use rules and record keeping. On insurance, beyond hull cover look at third-party liability (crop damage, injury or property loss from a crash) and whether the limit matches real operating scale. Exported aircraft may also face target-market aircraft access and certification requirements (airworthiness-type approvals). Confirm the compliance list for the operating area before purchase and write licence and insurance requirements into the RFQ.
06Spares, after-sales and training
Spraying drones are consumables-heavy: blades, nozzles, pumps, hoses and batteries are replaced frequently. Ask for the common spare-parts list with prices, delivery lead times, and whether local repair points exist. Firmware updates and parameter tuning support matter too. Training should cover piloting, routine maintenance (especially flushing the spray system — residual chemicals corrode hoses and pumps) and common fault diagnosis: a team’s real output depends far more on training and spares than on machine specs.
07Export and tariff access
Exported aircraft face target-market access and tariff rules. The US applies differentiated drone tariffs (per the White House proclamation of 2026-08-13: 10%–100% ad valorem, with 100% where empty weight exceeds 25 kg or thermal imaging is fitted, 15% for EU / Japan / Korea / Switzerland origin and 25% for others) — factor the rate into landed cost during selection and quoting. Lithium batteries remain bound by UN38.3, so shipping aircraft with cells is a dangerous-goods exercise. Access lists differ widely by market; state the target country at RFQ stage so the platform can flag the relevant points.
08How to compute cost per hectare
Move the decision from sticker price to cost per hectare: depreciation on the unit and spares + hectares per battery pack and its cycle life + chemicals, water and power + pilot labour + maintenance and parts + insurance and compliance, divided by operating hectares per season. Two similarly priced machines can differ enormously in seasonal cost if battery cycle life or daily throughput differs twofold. The platform preserves currency and pricing-unit consistency checks at comparison stage, and keeps lead-time and warranty fields for side-by-side review.