Drones and robots will join the birds and bees in Kelowna, British Columbia orchards this spring, as a new era of high-tech agriculture takes flight.

A partnership of the City of Kelowna and InDro Robotics, the pilot project will see drones and industrial robots patrol 200 acres (80 hectares) of apple, pear and cherry trees to monitor and assess crop health and anticipate fruit yields.

The InDro Robotics airborne drones and ground roving robots will help farmers reach new levels of crop management. The City of Kelowna will capture and store the data collected in the orchards.

“Our autonomous robots and drones will inspect crops, providing near real-time data on plant health, infestations, soil moisture, and more,” said Philip Reece, CEO and founder of InDro Robotics. “Thanks to the visionary support of the City of Kelowna and funding from Agri-food Canada, we’re set to pilot this initiative over two years, starting with local farmers.”

The data collected by the orchard roving technologies is also expected to help local farmers increase yields, reduce overhead, improve resiliency to climate change, improve water use efficiencies, and assure competitiveness in the global market.