Autonomous Drones for Precision Pest Control in Desert Agriculture: Technologies, Applications, and Future Prospects

Autonomous drone technologies are increasingly recognized as transformative tools for precision pest management, particularly in desert agricultural systems characterized by harsh environmental conditions and limited resources. Conventional pest control approaches, largely dependent on uniform pesticide application, often result in inefficient input use, environmental contamination, and reduced sustainability. This review synthesizes recent advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remote sensing, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven analytics for targeted pest detection, monitoring, and control. Drone-based applications, including precision spraying and biological control delivery, have demonstrated the potential to reduce pesticide use by approximately 20–30% while improving spatial accuracy and operational efficiency. Integration with AI and Internet of Things (IoT) systems enables real-time data acquisition, automated pest detection, and adaptive decision-making, enhancing system performance in heterogeneous and remote desert landscapes. Despite these advantages, challenges such as high initial costs, technical limitations, regulatory constraints, and environmental factors remain significant barriers to widespread adoption. Future developments, including drone swarms and predictive modelling, are expected to further improve efficiency. Overall, autonomous drones offer a promising pathway toward sustainable, data-driven pest management in desert ecosystems.

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