In Brazil, where legal and illegal land clearing have created a need for massive reforestation, a project is underway to determine whether Chinese agricultural drones can help speed such work. The Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) has used drones since 2016 to monitor the progress of conventionally planted tree seeds and seedlings at its 400-hectare (988-acre) experimental farm on the outskirts of Curitiba, the capital of southern Paraná state. But since last November, UFPR researchers have used a drone supplied at no cost by its manufacturer, China’s XAG, to plant tree seeds over a two-hectare (4.9-acre) plot of tilled soil at the farm. In all, ten hectares (24.7 acres) of the farm have been set aside for the experiment. Thus far six drone flights have been conducted under the initiative, called Projeto Arboreto. In each one, the drone dispersed 20 kilos (44 pounds) of seeds of... [Log in to read more]