Drone tech in agriculture set to boost rural economy in Uttar Pradesh

The Uttar Pradesh government is working on a blueprint to promote drone technology in agriculture to boost the rural economy.

While drones are being utilised for a gamut of farm activities, including spraying pesticides, fertilisers, and farm nutrients,albeit on a limited scale, the state intends to expand its scope.

“Drone is the future of agriculture and will revolutionise the sector. The drone technology can be harnessed for a variety of farm purposes going forward,” UP Cooperative Minister J P S Rathore said. Drones can be utilised to spray nano (liquid) urea and pesticides to achieve higher farm productivity and yield, he said. The government is facilitating the training of drone pilots to cater to the growing demand for drones in the state.

UP has an estimated 17 million hectares of agricultural cultivated area, which is among the largest cropped acreage in India. Therefore, the potential of drone technology in agriculture is massive. Drones also reduce labour costs while ensuring a uniform spray of fertilisers or pesticides in the cropped land.

Earlier this year, the UP government had announced a 40 per cent subsidy to farmers' self-help groups (SHGs) over the deployment of drone for agricultural purposes. In the first phase, about 88 drones under the subsidy scheme were provided to farmers for spraying fertilisers. Under the plan, the farmers were offered drones on rent for usage as well as to introduce them to the new-age technology.

A typical drone has the capacity to carry 10-12 kg of nano urea or pesticide. It can spray fertilisers or farm nutrients over nearly 10 bighas of land in 10-12 minutes, which manually would take much longer.