DJI Agras

Also known as: DJI Agras series · DJI MG series (early models) · DJI T series (current models) · Agras T50 · Agras T40 · Agras T30

Agricultural drone technology and practice

Definition

DJI Agras is the agricultural drone product line of the Chinese manufacturer DJI, a series of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles first released in November 2015 and used worldwide for aerial application — spraying pesticide and fertilizer, spreading seed and dry granules, and supporting crop disease control. The line began with the MG-1, an octocopter with a 10-liter tank, and has been refreshed almost annually through the MG-series and the T-series to the T100 flagship, a 100-liter machine launched in China in November 2024; it is the example agricultural drone pictured in Wikipedia’s article on the subject, and its tank capacity — the line’s defining specification — grew tenfold across a decade. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras, Wikipedia — Agricultural drone)

The Agras family is also a case study in how farm hardware escapes the farm: Wikipedia documents its aircraft used for malaria-control spraying in Zanzibar, COVID-19 disinfection trials in Chicago and by Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit, and — after modification — weaponized by Israeli forces in Gaza and by Ukrainian engineers in 2024. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras) In the Philippines, DJI’s own online storefront carries no Agras product page for the country, so Philippine availability runs through third-party channels under Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines licensing and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority spraying rules. (DJI Philippines — Agras page not available, CAAP — Drone Warfare Summit, FPA — Sultan Kudarat caravan)

Identities

Source Type	Identity
Wikipedia	DJI Agras
Wikidata	DJI Agras series (Q134463445)
DBpedia	DJI_Agras
ProductOntology	N/A
Wiktionary	N/A
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)	N/A
MeSH	N/A
NCBI Taxonomy	N/A
AGROVOC	N/A
Google Scholar	DJI Agras agricultural drone spraying UAV multirotor pesticide application
ConceptNet	N/A
OpenCyc	N/A

Also Known As

DJI Agras series
DJI MG series (early models)
DJI T series (current models)
Agras T50
Agras T40
Agras T30

Examples and Analogies

A decade of growing tanks: the line’s headline specification tells its history — 10 liters on the 2015 MG-1, 16 on the 2018 T16, 30 on the 2020 T30, 40 on the 2021 T40 and 2022 T50, and 100 liters on the 2024 T100, each generation carrying more chemical per flight. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
From jeep to fleet truck: the MG-1 was a single-purpose octocopter, but the T-series added a second trade — spreading — with the T40 carrying 70 liters or 50 kilograms of dry material and the T50 an optional 75-liter, 50-kilogram spreader beside its 40-liter spray tank, the way a sprayer becomes a general field utility vehicle. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
Radar as the crew’s eyes: starting with the T16’s DBF imaging radar and the T30’s omnidirectional radar plus top-view unit, the machines sense obstacles and terrain themselves — the feature that lets them hold spray height over uneven ground without a human aboard. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
The drone a Filipino rice farmer meets: the Philippine government’s drone-spraying roll-out runs through licensed service operators, and the Agras line is the world’s most iterated example of the platform class those operators fly — machines whose per-hectare work, not ownership, reaches farmers through ₱2,000-per-hectare service vouchers. (DA — Subsidized drone access)

Usage Scenarios

1. Pesticide and Fertilizer Spraying

The core mission: the T30 sprays through sixteen nozzles at up to 7.2 liters per minute from a 30-liter tank, and the T50 up to 24 liters per minute with extra nozzles — rates sized to cover a hectare of rice or corn in minutes. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

2. Seeding and Granule Spreading

With spreader systems fitted, T-series aircraft broadcast seed and dry fertilizer — the T40 up to 70 liters or 50 kilograms per load, the T50 up to 75 liters — the configuration behind drone direct-seeding demonstrations in Philippine rice areas. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras, PhilRice — Drone seeder)

3. Public-Health and Disinfection Work

The same spray systems have been redeployed against insects and pathogens: malaria-control operations in Zanzibar in 2019 and COVID-19 disinfection tests in Chicago and by Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

4. Conflict Repurposing

Wikipedia reports Israeli forces used Agras drones to drop explosives in Gaza in 2024, and Ukrainian engineers mounted a machine gun and grenade launcher on a T30 — unsanctioned military conversions of a farm aircraft that illustrate its payload capability. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

Strategies

Iterate annually, grow the tank: DJI’s pattern is near-yearly refreshes with larger payloads — MG-1 (2015), MG-1S (2016), MG-1P (2017), T16 (2018), T20 and T30 (2020), T40 (2021), T50 (2022), T60 (2023), T100 (2024) — keeping the line at the top of the specification ladder. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
Automate the flying, not just the spraying: each generation added autonomy-relevant hardware — obstacle avoidance on the MG-1S, an FPV camera on the MG-1P, BeiDou-backed RTK positioning and imaging radar on the T16, omnidirectional and top-view radar on the T30, gimballed FPV and phased-array radar on the T40 — so one controller can supervise work once done by walking applicators. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
Segment by market: China-first launches for the T30, T60, and T100 flagships, with global releases months later — smaller models like the T10 and T25 serving price-sensitive markets. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
Spin the platform off: the line was developed into the DJI FlyCart cargo drone, extending the airframe from crop work to logistics. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

Security and Safety Measures

Radar-based obstacle and terrain safety: omnidirectional obstacle-detection radar, top-view radar, and phased-array radars — culminating in the forward and rear units on the T50 — protect the aircraft, its operator, and people on the ground during low-level flight. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
Weatherproofing: the T16 carried an IP67 ingress-protection rating, a baseline for machines that work through spray drift and washdown. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)
National aviation licensing where flown: in the Philippines, any operator flying an Agras commercially must register the aircraft, complete accredited training, and hold an RPA Controller Certificate or Remote Pilot License under Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations — 1,432 such certificates and licenses were active nationwide as of October 2025. (CAAP — Drone Warfare Summit)
Pesticide-application compliance: Philippine drone spraying also requires FPA-licensed operators and adherence to the FPA’s RPAS pesticide rules, whatever the aircraft brand. (FPA — Sultan Kudarat caravan)

Historical Context

DJI, the Chinese drone maker, entered agriculture in November 2015 with the MG-1, an octocopter carrying 10 liters and four nozzles at about $15,000. The line matured quickly: the MG-1S (2016) added obstacle avoidance; the MG-1P (2017) added an FPV camera; the T16 (December 2018) shifted to a hexacopter layout with imaging radar and BeiDou RTK; the T20 and T30 (2020) brought omnidirectional radar, and the T30 sixteen nozzles at 7.2 liters per minute; the T40 (November 2021) reached 40 liters of spray and 101 kilograms maximum takeoff weight; the T50 and T25 (2022) added large spreading systems; the T60 (November 2023, China) lifted 60 kilograms; and the T100 (November 2024, China) reached a 100-liter tank. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras) The aircraft’s spread into public-health spraying and, controversially, into weapons use in Gaza and Ukraine during 2024, made the line a reference case in debates over dual-use drone exports. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

Philippine agricultural drone use is documented from the research side rather than from brand-level sales data: PhilRice has flown research drones since 2014 and demonstrated drone seeding and spraying to rice farmers, and from 2024 the Department of Agriculture has bought drone services — not specific brands — through licensed providers under Drones4Rice. (PhilRice — A hovering technology, DA — Subsidized drone access) DJI’s Philippines storefront does not list an Agras page, so the line’s local footprint cannot be verified from official Philippine or DJI sources and is not claimed here. (DJI Philippines — Agras page not available)

Challenges and Controversies

Weaponization of a Farm Aircraft

The most consequential controversy is military: Wikipedia documents Israeli forces dropping explosives from Agras drones in Gaza in 2024 and a Ukrainian-armed T30 carrying a machine gun and grenade launcher — conversions that complicate the export and reputation of agricultural drones generally. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

Sanctions and Geopolitics

As products of a Chinese manufacturer with reported military repurposing, Agras aircraft sit inside wider Western debates over Chinese drone supply chains; Wikipedia’s article records the weaponization episodes that fuel those debates, though specific sanctions detail is outside its coverage. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras)

Price and Smallholder Access

The MG-1 launched at about $15,000, and modern flagships cost more — in a Philippine market where owning any agricultural drone ran ₱500,000–₱1 million in 2018, which is why the DA’s program buys services rather than machines. (Wikipedia — DJI Agras, PhilRice — A hovering technology)

Unverified National Markets

Brand-level market shares are hard to verify from public official sources: neither DJI’s Philippine storefront nor Philippine government drone-program pages publish Agras sales or distribution figures, so any claim of the line’s dominance in a specific national market — including the Philippines — remains undocumented. (DJI Philippines — Agras page not available, CAAP — Drone Warfare Summit)