Agri-tech offers productivity gains, but structural challenges remain

The Indian agricultural sector is rapidly embracing innovations that promise to enhance productivity, reduce input costs, and empower farmers. Among these, two interventions, namely agri-drones and digital agriculture, stand out. Recent developments, including a national conference organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on Agri Stack and the launch of Garuda Aerospace’s agri-drone indigenisation facility in Chennai, are therefore important in this regard. The facility will be capable of manufacturing over 100,000 drones over the next two years. Additionally, 300 Centres of Excellence (CoE) were inaugurated to foster skilling, and research & development in drone manufacturing. With plans to train self-help groups (SHGs) and young people in operating and maintaining drones, the programme aims to create both rural employment and enable greater technology penetration in farming.

 

The use of drones in agriculture is now being scaled up with speed. Agri-drones can cover 10 times the area of manual sprayers in a day, drastically cutting the use of pesticides and fertilisers, reducing water consumption, and minimising farmers’ exposure to hazardous chemicals. The ministry has rolled out targeted subsidies under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation, offering up to 100 per cent assistance for demonstration drones and 75 per cent support for farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) purchasing drones for farmers’ fields. Further, the government’s Drone Didi initiative aims to provide 15,000 drones to women-led SHGs by 2026, equipping them with drone technology to provide agricultural services. Drone indigenisation is important for India also because it strengthens the country’s position by reducing reliance on imports and allows for the design of drones tailored specifically to domestic agricultural conditions.

 

Equally vital is the ongoing effort to digitise Indian agriculture through the Digital Agriculture Mission and the creation of Agri Stack, a database integrating land records, farmer IDs, and crop data. Digital tools can enhance transparency, improve credit access, and help target subsidies and insurance schemes more effectively. Pilot projects already underway have issued digital farmer IDs and conducted geo-tagged crop surveys across 436 districts. When integrated with artificial intelligence models and real-time satellite data, this digital infrastructure can help in crop monitoring, early warning systems, and provide precision farming recommendations. The combined use of drones and digital interventions can inform timely, targeted interventions in the field.

 

But to realise the full promise of these technologies, the country must address structural and policy challenges. High costs, poor rural connectivity, and a lack of trained operators continue to limit access. Most small and marginal farmers have fragmented land parcels, making drone usage inefficient without shared infrastructure. Data privacy and ownership are also legitimate concerns. Many farmers remain unfamiliar with digital tools, and the benefits of these innovations are often skewed towards better-resourced regions or groups. There is thus a need to focus on decentralised capacity building and farmer trust. This means investing in last-mile training, ensuring that SHGs and FPOs can own and operate drones, protecting farmers’ data rights, and strengthening digital infrastructure in underserved areas.