Considering the government push, drones can boost India’s agriculture sectors as well as other industries soon, say experts.
New guidelines for a programme called ‘Kisan Drone’ provide substantial subsidies for unmanned aerial vehicles to farmers and organisations.
Recently, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched a drone experience studio at the state-run think tank NITI Aayog. Drone Shakti and Kisan Drone are two of his policies. The first aims to increase adoption in non-farm sectors.
In a country where farm income is about one-third of non-agricultural households, technology can offer a massive amount of opportunities. However, those who use advanced technologies account for less than 1% of the total.
THE SCHEMES
Kisan Drone aims to expand drone use in three areas — land mapping, agricultural nutrition spraying and crop remote monitoring.
Farmers’ producer associations could obtain a grant for up to 75% of the drone’s cost for forwarding demonstrations.
The government will also pay implementing agencies Rs 6,000 per hectare if they hire drones for demonstrations rather than buying them. These incentives for drone technology promotion will be available through March 31, 2023, according to the official, who requested anonymity.
Smit Shah, president of the Drone Federation of India, an apex body, reportedly said: “A standard agriculture drone costs between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. These steps have made the purchase of agricultural drones nearly free for leading agri-research and agri-training institutions.”
Drone recruiting centres will also receive specific funding to use drones to deliver agricultural services. This includes 40% of the drone’s basic cost plus accessories or Rs 4 lakh, whichever is lower.
Hiring centres and hi-tech hubs would have to be formed by cooperative societies of farmers and rural enterprises to be eligible for the funds.
Additionally, graduates in agricultural sciences will be able to open hiring centres and will be eligible for 50% off on the cost of a drone.
NEW TECH
The Drone Federation stated that the new incentives will help bring in new technology in the country’s archaic farm industry.
As reported by Hindustan Times, Mark Kahn, a spokesperson for Omnivore, an agritech focussed venture capital firm in India, said: “2021 saw technology go closer to the ground with upstream agritech deals surpassing downstream deals in India for the first time. Agritech start-ups played a pivotal role in supporting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers during the pandemic.”
A few weeks ago when News18 spoke to Vishal Saurav, CEO and founder of VFLYX India, a drone technology company based in Bengaluru, he said: “Agriculture is one of the sectors that is adopting drone technology rapidly and there is a huge niche market that is yet to be tapped.”
“Very few people related to agriculture currently know about the utilisation of drone technology. Drones can be used to do many things like sowing crops, spreading fertilisers and pesticides, soil/crop analysis, surveillance, etc,” he noted.
According to Saurav, in the agriculture sector, Indian farmers face a lot of challenges that can be solved using drone technology.
“Agriculture is one of the major industries in India and has the potential to become even bigger with the help of technology implementation. It will help increase and improve the quality of yield, thus benefiting farmers and increasing their contribution to the country’s GDP,” he added.
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