Tehran – Over the past 20 years, Iranian knowledge-based companies have devoted remarkable efforts to design, build and use different types of drones for civilian purposes, including wise agriculture, freight transport, maritime missions, rescue and relief efforts.
Drones have become one of the most intelligent tools in military, safety, industrial, agriculture and municipal services. This technology has revolutionized operational management, data collection and risk reduction by enabling complex missions to be carried out remotely in the field without human presence.
With the rapid advances in remotely piloted aircraft technology in the country, drones have shifted from purely military tools and are now recognized as a major player in agriculture, relief, rescue operations, mapping and environmental protection.
Today, Iran is not only self-sufficient in the drone industry, but also in a country at the forefront of drone technology.
We were able to work with the university and the Vice President of Science to develop specific drones for use in agriculture. These drones are designed with aerial imaging capabilities. They can monitor the field, identify pests, measure plant health with infrared spectra, map soil and vegetation temperatures, farmland, spray, and even sown, among other things.
These drones are typically equipped with multispectral cameras, normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) sensors, accurate GPS systems, and tanks that spray liquids.
One of the main goals is to improve land productivity, reduce water and pesticide consumption, and increase the accuracy of farm management.
Approximately 225 knowledge-based companies operate in designing and building drones for Iran’s private purposes, and these companies have official licenses for production and operation. In the agricultural sector, over 500 knowledge-based companies, including start-ups and technology companies, operate in a variety of agricultural sectors, with over 10 of which specializing in the manufacture of agricultural drones and providing related services.
Notable growth in knowledge-based companies
The significant and fast growth of the number of knowledge-based firms, with an increasing number of knowledge-based firms, which have increased by more than 200% over Iran 1402 (March 2023 to March 2024), indicates that the country’s solid foundation, dynamism and productive atmosphere in innovation and technology aims to achieve the goal of promoting domestic production.
The current administration emphasizes quantitative and qualitative development of knowledge-based companies. The number of approximately 5,000 companies before the current administration took office in August 2021 now reached 10,000, totaling $2 billion.
In the Iranian calendar year (ends March 19, 2024), Iranian knowledge-based companies exported more than 3.6 million tons of products in the Iranian calendar year (ends March 19, 2024).
Based on IRICA data, approximately 1.158 billion tonnes of goods were also imported into the country by knowledge-based companies from March 21, 2023 to March 19, 2024 by knowledge-based companies.
Approximately 85% of the goods imported by knowledge-based companies came from China, reported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, Germany and India.
Domestic knowledge-based companies exported their products to China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye and Russia during this period, Irika said.
During this period, knowledge-based companies accounted for 2.6 and 5% of the country’s total exports in weight and value, respectively.
Advanced materials and products based on chemical technology accounted for around 80% of the export value of these companies.
China was the first buyer of Iranian knowledge-based products during this period.
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