Celestial Seeder
Ural State Agrarian University has begun using unmanned aerial vehicles for spring rapeseed planting, expanding the role of drones in precision agriculture and digital farming operations.
Seeding is one of the most important agricultural operations. The quality of planting directly affects seed germination, crop growth and plant development, ultimately determining both yield volume and crop quality. In practice, planting operations form the economic foundation of crop production.
To improve the efficiency and precision of seeding operations, agricultural producers are increasingly turning to modern digital technologies. These systems make it possible to conduct planting campaigns with high accuracy even under difficult field conditions.
A UAV-Based Planting Model
Students and faculty members at Ural State Agrarian University, or UrGAU, have begun using unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for planting small-seed crops, particularly spring rapeseed. The project is being carried out through UralAgroDron, a small innovative enterprise established by UrGAU. “Agrodrones can only be used for small seeds that do not require additional soil incorporation after planting,” said UralAgroDron director Ilya Ognev.
The UAV can distribute rapeseed from heights of up to 6 metres at a seeding rate of 8.5 kilograms per hectare. According to the developers, this is the first use of drones for such planting operations in Sverdlovsk Region.
From a technological perspective, UAV-based planting includes several stages. Specialists first use a mapping drone to collect data and generate a 3D terrain model. Engineers then design the flight path for the quadcopter responsible for distributing the seed to maximise both flight efficiency and planting accuracy. After that, the agrodron carries out the operation autonomously according to pre-programmed parameters.
The goal of the project is to create an efficient planting model while developing mathematical algorithms capable of forecasting potential crop yields and minimising operating costs. UrGAU specialists plan to evaluate the effectiveness of UAV-based planting after the harvest season is completed.
New Opportunities for Planting and Crop Treatment
One of the main advantages of the new method is versatility. The same agrodron can perform multiple tasks under difficult field conditions, improving equipment utilisation while reducing operational costs.
“Agrodrones are capable of both planting and spraying. When ground equipment cannot enter a field, agrodrones can still operate freely and treat the area. Meanwhile, once crops grow taller, conventional sprayers can damage part of the harvest. In that respect, agrodrones perform a very useful function,” said UralAgroDron director Ilya Ognev.
The technology could also improve the efficiency of cultivating rapeseed, one of Russia’s most commercially attractive agricultural crops. Rapeseed acreage in Russia has expanded sharply in recent years. In 2011, the total cultivation area for spring and winter rapeseed stood at 894,000 hectares. By 2021, the figure had reached 1.68 million hectares, and in 2025 it increased further to 2.96 million hectares. That growth is creating demand for advanced technological approaches to rapeseed production.
The new UAV-based agricultural technology combines field mapping, agronomic calculations, 3D modelling and autonomous route planning, creating a new market segment for Russia’s IT sector while supporting broader development in crop farming. In the near future, the technology could also be used for planting mustard and alfalfa, whose seeds likewise do not require soil incorporation and can deliver strong economic returns.
Precision Agriculture Development
Experiments involving UAVs in planting operations began in Russia several years ago. In 2022, drones were used in Samara Region to plant several hectares of mustard and forage grasses. The industry is now moving toward fully integrated unmanned planting systems. That trend aligns with Russia’s national Bespilotnye aviatsionnye sistemy (Unmanned Aviation Systems) project, launched on 1 January 2024. The programme aims to raise the share of domestically produced unmanned aviation systems on the Russian market to 70.3% by 2030.
The UrGAU project demonstrates how Russian digital agricultural technologies are moving from experimental trials toward practical deployments supported by established methodologies and measurable economic performance. Over time, UAV-based planting operations are expected to become part of broader precision-farming systems now being deployed by major Russian agricultural holdings. Platforms combining geoinformation systems containing soil, climate and yield data with machinery positioning systems, variable-rate fertiliser application and AI-based yield forecasting are expected to maximise the effectiveness of UAV operations.
Furthermore, both individual UAV planting technologies and integrated precision-farming platforms offering affordable digital agricultural tools are expected to find demand in friendly international markets.
