Russian Regions Ramp Up Agricultural Drone Programs

Russia’s agricultural sector is entering the drone age, with the Kaluga region leading a federal pilot project to boost efficiency and cut reliance on manual labor.

Since 2024, Kaluga has been part of a federal pilot program deploying unmanned aerial vehicles — “agrodrones” — to spray crops, assess disaster damage and monitor wildfires, according to Deputy Governor Vladimir Popov, who spoke to Moskovsky Komsomolets.

To help farmers adopt the technology more quickly, Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture has added agrodrones to its preferential leasing program, offering subsidized rates for operators and producers.

Alongside equipment deployment, Kaluga is training the next generation of drone specialists. New courses have launched at the Kaluga Technical School of Electronic Instruments and at the Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy branch in the region.

Domestic industry is also stepping up: the Kozelsk Mechanical Plant recently unveiled its first mobile agrodrone complex, designed to streamline field operations and maintenance.

All of this aligns with Russia’s broader agricultural digitalization strategy, aimed at increasing productivity and reducing dependence on manual labor. Organizers say the Kaluga pilot could expand to other regions in the coming years.

Looking ahead, officials plan to extend drone use to grain and industrial crops and integrate aerial data into a nationwide monitoring system—enabling realtime decision‑making across Russia’s vast farmlands.