Unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV), usually referred to as drone is a remote controlled vehicle that is offering tremendous benefit to almost all sectors of society.
It was originally developed for military and aerospace industries but it's enhanced safety and efficiency has brought them into mainstream including videography, search and rescue, transportation and Agriculture as well.
Drones in Agriculture
In Agriculture drones are most importantly used for spraying purposes.
It is a lot more economical to spray using drone than employing labours to do the task. All that is needed is to approach a Certified drone pilot, once the chemical be it herbicide, pesticide or fertilizer is supplied spraying can be done precisely and efficiently.
The cost of spraying is Rs.700/acre, using drones in just 20-25 mins, as opposed to manual spraying which takes nearly 2 hours to cover an acre the cost further varying depending on the labours employed.
With the present farm labours shortage and unavailability that our Indian farmers are facing, drone usage is a boon to farmers for sure.
What are Kisan Drones?
The Kisan drones are developed by Atul Incubation centre-Pondicherry Engineering College Foundation(AIC-PECF). Those are drones with 15 L payload and 30 min flight time capacity, these have added a new chapter in the direction of modern agricultural facilities of 21st century in India.
Nearly Rs.127 crore has been allocated for Kisan drone promotion and financial assistance is also provided by government to startups, farmers FPO's and individual purchases as well.
Who is a Drone pilot?
Under the stipulations of Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA), only a DGCA licenced pilot can operate drones, as the drone operations have to comply with the airspace map developed with colour - coded (Red, Yellow and Green) zones for flying drones.
The map is available on DGCA's digital sky platform at https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/
Remote pilot training Organization (RPTO), is authorised to impart training to any individual seeking certificate for the same.
Also to fly drone for commercial purpose be it of small, micro, medium or large size requires a pilot licence, whereas nano or micro drones for non commercial purposes doesn't require any licence.
Thus, drones can be used in agriculture not only for spraying but also for -
- assisting in pollination,
- remote surveillance of lands, and
- most importantly it address the issue of labour unavailability in the long run.
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