Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications

Abhay Rajan; Sravan K K; Hisana C; Muhammed Nazil; Mohammed Shan; Navaneeth Saran Alby; Sajeesh P

doi:10.33904/ejfe.1802823

Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications

Abstract

Drone-based system for seed ball deployment in aerial reforestation offer an innovative and efficient approach for restoring degraded ecosystems sustainably. This study primarily focuses on the design and development of a drone equipped with an automated seed ball dispensing mechanism for aerial reforestation applications. The developed drone system has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.8, ensuring stable flight performance during the aerial reforestation operations. The system enables controlled seed ball release using a servo-actuated mechanism and GPS-assisted positioning. The second objective of this study is to optimize seed ball parameters and dropping height to enhance aerial delivery and germination performance in reforestation. Taguchi analysis indicated that seed ball composition and dropping height have a greater influence on germination than seed ball weight. A composition, consisting of compost and mud, with a seed ball weight of 40 g, and a dropping height of 2 m, was found to be the optimal. The statistical influence of the parameters on the germination rate was further analysed using ANOVA. Finally, a predictive regression model was developed to estimate germination time based on seed ball composition, weight, and release height, and its accuracy was validated through confirmatory experiments. Thus, this work presents a practical, data-deriven approach for aerial reforestation that integrates optimized seed ball design with drone-based seed ball deployment to enhance ecological restoration outcomes.

Keywords

Aerial reforestation, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Drone-based seed dispersal, Seed ball optimization, Ecological restoration, Aegle marmelos

Supporting Institution

The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.

Ethical Statement

N/A.

References

Buğday, E., 2018. Capabilities of Using UAVs in Forest Road Construction Activities. European Journal of Forest Engineering, 4(2), 56-62. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.499784
Castro, J., Alcaraz-Segura, D., Baltzer, J.L., Amorós, L., Morales-Rueda, F., Tabik, S. 2024. Automated precise seeding with drones and artificial intelligence: a workflow. Restoration Ecology, 32, e14164. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14164
Corbera, E., Estrada, M., Brown, K., 2010. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries: revisiting the assumptions. Climatic Change 100, 355–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9773-1
Cunningham, C.X., Williamson, G.J., Bowman, D.M.J.S., 2024. Increasing frequency and intensity of the most extreme wildfires on Earth. Nature Ecology & Evolution 8:1420–1425. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02452-2
Durgun, H., Eker, M. 2025. Determination of Changes in Forest Road Network in Fire-Affected Areas by UAV. European Journal of Forest Engineering 11(1), 42-47. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1540549
Eker, R., Alkan, E., Aydın, A. 2021. A Comparative Analysis of UAV-RTK and UAV-PPK Methods in Mapping Different Surface Types. European Journal of Forest Engineering, 7(1), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.938067
Groen, A.H., Woods, S.W. 2008. Effectiveness of aerial seeding and straw mulch for reducing post-wildfire erosion, north-western Montana, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 17(5), 559–571. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07062
Grossnickle, S. C., Ivetić, V. 2017. Direct seeding in reforestation – A field performance review. Reforesta 4:94–142. https://doi.org/10.21750/refor.4.07.46
Gustavsson, L., Haus, S., Lundblad, M., Lundström, A., Ortiz, C.A., Sathre, R., Truong, N.L., Wikberg, P.-E., 2017. Climate change effects of forestry and substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 67:612–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.056
Hafeez, A., Husain, M.A., Singh, S.P., Chauhan, A., Khan, M.T., Kumar, N., Chauhan, A., Soni, S.K., 2023. Implementation of drone technology for farm monitoring & pesticide spraying: A review. Information Processing in Agriculture 10(2):192–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.02.002

Hansson, L.J., Sten, G., Rossander, M., Lideskog, H., Manner, J., van Westendorp, R., Li, S., Eriksson, A., Wallner, A., Rönnqvist, M., Flisberg, P., Edlund, B., Möller, B., Karlberg, M., 2024. Autoplant-Autonomous Site Preparation and Tree Planting for a Sustainable Bioeconomy. Forests 15(2):263. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020263
Kannan, R., Dhivya, V., Janani, T.S.K. 2021. Future perspective of seed ball technology for creating new ecosystem. International Journal of Plant and Environment, 7(4), 293–296. https://doi.org/10.18811/ijpen.v7i04.9
Li, S., Rossander, M., Lideskog, H., 2025. Vision-based planting position selection system for an unmanned reforestation machine. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research 98(2):266–277. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpae032
Lloyd, S., Astrup, R., 2025. An ultra-light seedling planting mechanism for use in aerial reforestation. Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Atlanta, GA, USA, pp. 1474-1480. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRA55743.2025.11128303
Lloyd, S., Opstrup, T.K., Ebeid, E.S.M., Astrup, R., 2025. SkyPlanter: Aerial reforestation with an ultralight, seedling–planting drone. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 31(2), 1617-1628. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2025.3606620
Marzuki, O. F., Teo, E. Y. L., Rafie, A. S. M., 2021. The mechanism of drone seeding technology: a review. Malaysian Forester, 84(2), 349–358.
Mohan, M., Richardson, G., Gopan, G., Aghai, M.M., Bajaj, S., Galgamuwa, G.A.P., Vastaranta, M., Pitumpe Arachchige, P.S., Amorós, L., Dalla Corte, A.P., de-Miguel, S., Leite, R.V., Kganyago, M., Broadbent, E.N., Doaemo, W., Bin Shorab, M.A., Cardil, A., 2021. UAV-supported forest regeneration: current trends, challenges and implications. Remote Sensing 13(13):2596. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13132596
Novikov, A.I., Ersson, B.T., 2019. Aerial seeding of forests in Russia: A selected literature analysis. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 226:012051. https://www.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/226/1/012051
Peppin, D., Fulé, P.Z., Sieg, C.H., Beyers, J.L., Hunter, M.E., 2010. Post-wildfire seeding in forests of the western United States: An evidence-based review. Forest Ecology and Management 260(5):573–586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.06.004
Ramantswana, M., Guerra, S. P. S., Ersson, B. T., 2020. Advances in the mechanization of regenerating plantation forests: a review. Current Forestry Reports 6:143–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-020-00114-7
Rana, P., Varshney, L.R., 2023. Exploring limits to tree planting as a natural climate solution. Journal of Cleaner Production 384:135566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135566
Reyer, C., Guericke, M. Ibisch, P.L. 2009. Climate change mitigation via afforestation, reforestation and deforestation avoidance: and what about adaptation to environmental change?. New Forests, 38, 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-008-9129-0
Rossander, M., Lideskog, H., 2023. Design and implementation of a control system for an autonomous reforestation machine using finite state machines. Forests 14(7):1340. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071340
Sobocki, S., Adamczyk, F., Tylek, P., Szaroleta, M., Żurowski, K., Kormanek, M., Szewczyk, G., Tabor, S., Zwierzyński, M., Kaźmierczak, M., Mac, J., 2023. A Seedling Collection Unit of a Mobile Automatic Device for Forest Tree Planting-An Extended Operating Concept. Forests 14(12):2420. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14122420
Stamatopoulos, I., Le, T. C., & Daver, F. 2024. UAV-assisted seeding and monitoring of reforestation sites: a review. Australian Forestry 87(2), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049158.2024.2343516
Taş, İ., Kaska, M.S., Akay, A.E., 2023. Assessment of using UAV photogrammetry-based DEM and Ground-Measurement Based DEM in Computer-Assisted Forest Road Design. European Journal of Forest Engineering 9(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1312514
Türk, Y., Aydın, A., Eker, R., 2022. Comparison of autonomous and manual UAV flights in determining forest road surface deformations. European Journal of Forest Engineering 8(2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1206846
Xiao, X., Wei, X., Liu, Y., Ouyang, X., Li, Q., Ning, J. 2015. Aerial seeding: An effective forest restoration method in highly degraded forest landscapes of sub-tropic regions. Forests, 6(6), 1748–1762. https://doi.org/10.3390/f6061748

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Forestry Management and Environment, Forestry Sciences (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Abhay Rajan
0009-0003-2104-9954
India

Sravan K K This is me
0009-0003-4875-4805
India

Hisana C This is me
0009-0000-8536-1937
India

Muhammed Nazil This is me
0009-0001-7593-0734
India

Mohammed Shan This is me
0009-0000-5984-1048
India

Navaneeth Saran Alby This is me
0009-0008-3757-4864
India

Sajeesh P ^*
0000-0002-3728-0718
India

Early Pub Date

June 10, 2026

Publication Date

June 11, 2026

Submission Date

October 14, 2025

Acceptance Date

March 11, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 12 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1802823

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA88MN58YA

APA

Rajan, A., K K, S., C, H., Nazil, M., Shan, M., Alby, N. S., & P, S. (2026). Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications. European Journal of Forest Engineering, 12(1), 70-78. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1802823

AMA

1.Rajan A, K K S, C H, et al. Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications. Eur J Forest Eng. 2026;12(1):70-78. doi:10.33904/ejfe.1802823

Chicago

Rajan, Abhay, Sravan K K, Hisana C, et al. 2026. “Designing a Drone-Based System for Optimized Seed Ball Deployment in Reforestation Applications”. European Journal of Forest Engineering 12 (1): 70-78. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1802823.

EndNote

Rajan A, K K S, C H, Nazil M, Shan M, Alby NS, P S (June 1, 2026) Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications. European Journal of Forest Engineering 12 1 70–78.

IEEE

[1]A. Rajan et al., “Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications”, Eur J Forest Eng, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 70–78, June 2026, doi: 10.33904/ejfe.1802823.

ISNAD

Rajan, Abhay - K K, Sravan - C, Hisana - Nazil, Muhammed - Shan, Mohammed - Alby, Navaneeth Saran - P, Sajeesh. “Designing a Drone-Based System for Optimized Seed Ball Deployment in Reforestation Applications”. European Journal of Forest Engineering 12/1 (June 1, 2026): 70-78. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1802823.

JAMA

1.Rajan A, K K S, C H, Nazil M, Shan M, Alby NS, P S. Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications. Eur J Forest Eng. 2026;12:70–78.

MLA

Rajan, Abhay, et al. “Designing a Drone-Based System for Optimized Seed Ball Deployment in Reforestation Applications”. European Journal of Forest Engineering, vol. 12, no. 1, June 2026, pp. 70-78, doi:10.33904/ejfe.1802823.

Vancouver

1.Abhay Rajan, Sravan K K, Hisana C, Muhammed Nazil, Mohammed Shan, Navaneeth Saran Alby, Sajeesh P. Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications. Eur J Forest Eng. 2026 Jun. 1;12(1):70-8. doi:10.33904/ejfe.1802823

Creative Commons License

The works published in European Journal of Forest Engineering (EJFE) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Designing a drone-based system for optimized seed ball deployment in reforestation applications

Abstract

Keywords

Supporting Institution

Ethical Statement

References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Early Pub Date

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

Cite