Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday released standard operating procedures (SOP) for the application of pesticides using drones for 10 crops including rice, wheat, cotton and maize.
Officials said that drones help in optimum use of soil nutrients and pesticides; there are reports of farmers saving around 20% of their cost of application and reduction in health hazards associated with manual spraying.
“Drone technology has been accepted by the government in the agriculture sector, and in reducing the cost of agriculture and avoiding the side effects of pesticides, farmers will get extensive benefits from drones,” Tomar said while releasing the SOP.
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The SOPs also cover crops such as groundnut, pigeon pea, soyabean and sugarcane.
Under the agricultural mechanisation sub-mission, Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and state agriculture universities, as well as other state and central government agricultural institutes and undertakings engaged in agricultural activities are provided financial assistance at 100% of the drone cost, up to Rs 10 lakh per drone, besides contingent expenses for demonstration of drones in the farmers’ fields.
Farmer producer organisations (FPOs) are given grant-in-aid at the rate of 75% for the purchase of drones for a demonstration on farmers’ fields.
To provide agricultural services through the use of drones, financial assistance is given at the rate of 40% of the original cost of the drone by central hiring centres (CHCs) to farmers’ cooperative societies, FPOs and rural entrepreneurs for the purchase of drones, subject to a maximum of Rs 4 lakh.
In August 2021, the ministry of civil aviation had notified the drone rule to provide necessary regulatory framework for the commercial use of drones.
Subsequently, the government liberalised the scope of drone rules by introducing the PLI scheme for boosting drone manufacturing by private companies. PLI provides for an incentive of Rs 120 crore, over three financial years. Currently the cost of each drone is around Rs 7 lakh-8 lakh.
According to industry estimates, there are more than 1,000 drones used for agricultural purposes. In the next one year, there would be around 3,000 drones in operation for agricultural use.
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Last year, the agriculture ministry had released standard operating procedures for the use of drones in pesticide and nutrient application.
With the civil aviation ministry relaxing the relevant rules, a clutch of firms, including IoTechworld Aviation and Garuda Aerospace, have firmed up plans to manufacture and sell such drones for farming.