The drone combined with seeder and plant granule plays an important role in accelerating the restoration of mountain trees.

It is not easy to restore the collapsed land in the mountain forest, because many places are difficult to reach, let alone planting trees. The Bureau of soil and Water Conservation of the Council of Agriculture once flew by helicopter to sow tree seeds over the collapsed land in remote mountainous areas, but it had little effect because the seeds were too light. The helicopter's main rotor is turning, and all the seeds are scattered. The Forestry Bureau is now operating drones, flying to designated locations, and then spreading special plant granules containing seeds, so that the seeds fall in the right position and can increase the germination rate. Three test sites have been completed and the results will be accepted in July.

The UAV technology of UAV is improving rapidly and becoming more and more stable. Besides spraying pesticides and surveying disasters, it seems that UAV can also be used to restore mountain forests. The Forestry Bureau said that the collapse in some remote areas, due to the inaccessibility of traffic, can only be restored by natural restoration, but the waiting time is long, and it is also prone to disasters. In order to speed up the restoration of mountain and forest collapse sites, experts have been commissioned to develop plant granules, a seeder equipped with drones, and drones to form a drone aviation plant team.

Wang Zhaobao, head of the catchment area management team of the Forestry Bureau, said that the plant granule was developed by ZTE University, while the seeder, which can be carried on a drone and controlled by a remote valve, was commissioned by Fengjia University. The plant granule is about the size of a big marble, and the seeds in the granule are both trees and grass: Bahia grass, tall fox grass, mountain beetle, Acacia tree, Taiwan Chiyang, and so on, each with about 390 seeds. After drying, the plant granule can be preserved for about a month, and it can absorb water and germinate immediately in case of water, so after the granule is scattered and dropped on the soil, it will germinate when it rains. When you meet Rain Water within a month, the germination rate is the highest. After a month, the germination rate may decrease.

The UAV chooses a single-axle helicopter with a maximum wheelbase of 216cm and a maximum take-off weight of 28kg, so the upper limit of weight is 15kg. However, the actual operation will only fill 8 to 10kg of plant pellets. About 700000 seeds are dropped at a time, because flying in the mountain forest, the wind cutting problem on the mountain is big, and if the body is too heavy, it will be more difficult to control. Although the single-shaft helicopter uses a fuel engine, its flight time is still limited, so it will take at least 30 flights with a seeding area of 0.2 hectares.

At present, three fields beyond the reach of manpower have been selected to carry out experiments, including the collapse land in the upper reaches of the Liu Maoan tribe in Datong Township, Yilan County, the Bitan River collapse in the upper reaches of the Deji Reservoir in Heping District, Taichung City, and the collapse land beside the 7K of Aowan Union Road in Renai Township, Nantou County. The Forestry Bureau will conduct an aerial plant survey three months after sowing, analyze the effect of this set of equipment and operation mode on the restoration of collapsed land, and consolidate the test results into an operation manual to provide follow-up promotion and application. accelerate the restoration of landslides in remote areas of upstream state-owned forests.

The situation of aerial Plant Operation using UAV in Forestry Bureau

After the helicopter flies to the designated place and turns on the seeder remotely, the plant granule will fall at the designated place and wait for Rain Water to sprout.