Background: Drone technologies, also known as "unmanned aerial vehicles" (UAVs) or
"unmanned aerial systems" (UAS), have a wide range of applications, including mapping, landuse planning, crop/infrastructure damage assessment, fertilizer spraying and precision crop
protection. However, its use is still very limited in the agricultural sector in Africa in general
and in Burkina Faso in particular.
Results: This study was initiated to explore the potential of UAVs for optimizing cotton yields
through monitoring and phytosanitary efficiency. To this end, phytosanitary treatments and
monitoring of vegetation status using multispectral drone imagery were carried out on cotton.
The experimental sample consisted of four (04) cotton fields in four (04) locations.
Phytosanitary treatments and aerial photography were respectively carried out using a DJI
AGRAS T16 spray drone and a DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral drone. Phytosanitary treatment
with DJI AGRAS T16 drone resulted in savings of 32.41% in treatment duration, 23.58% in
water, 1% in pesticides and 10.5% in labor compared with manual spraying, but did not have a
positive impact on boll yields due to jassid populations attack. The RGB and NDVI vegetation
indices generated by photogrammetric processing of multispectral images acquired by drone
enabled us to perceive phytosanitary state of cotton plants during their development cycle.
Conclusion: Information provided by these vegetation indices and by this study in general can
be used to improve the efficiency of phytosanitary treatments against cotton pests and diseases.

drones, vegetation indices, cotton, phytosanitary treatments, pest