Drone Can Pinpoint Crop Damage, Stop Disease Spread

Three Ph.D. candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won $100,000 for a technology that can scan and analyze farmland to pinpoint crop damage before pests and diseases can spread.

Start-up company Raptor Maps won the grand prize in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. They presented drone technology that allows for focused pesticide application, a strategy which increases yields and reduces environmental impact.

The agribusiness start-up emerged from a field of 194 entries and won the grand prize over competitors who built an underwater robot, for example, and a new technology to treat inoperable tumors. S