Attitudes and Awareness Regarding Safety of Using Unmanned Agricultural Aircraft

Abstract

Unmanned agricultural aircraft (drone) technology is widely used in agriculture. The users must realize the safety awareness of life, property and environment. The objective of this research is to find additional information from previous research in this area by investigate safety attitudes and awareness of using unmanned agricultural aircraft, compare the attitudes and safety awareness classify them according to personal factors.  Use a questionnaire as a tool to collect information from a sample 200 farmers from central rice field group. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics and one-way analysis of variance.

          The research found that group of farmers have a high attitude towards the safety of unmanned agricultural aircraft (overall), on average. 3.53 (S.D.=1.243), the highest knowledge attitude towards the use of substances for agriculture with an average of 3.62 (S.D.=1.273). As for the perception of good safety awareness of unmanned agricultural aircraft (overall) at a high level with a mean of 3.93 (S.D.=0.887) indicating that understanding the use of substances for agriculture was the most important thing, with a mean of 4.12 (S.D.=0.918) at a high level. As for the results of comparing of attitudes and awareness towards aircraft safety among unmanned agricultural aircraft and personal factors, there was no significant difference at .05. The research conclusions will provide guidance for the publicity campaign for promoting Thai farmers’ attitudes and perceptions towards good safety in the use of unmanned agricultural aircraft. It will also benefit educational institutions, governmental, and private organizations which can utilize it to develop, promote, and support farmers in accessing modern technology and utilizing for agriculture in Thailand, thus ensuring increased benefits and safety.