Garuda Aerospace, a 'Make in India' firm, is producing 1000 drones for the agriculture sector, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to debut. These drones will aid farmers in maximising farm output and profit.
Garuda Aerospace aims to assist farmers in moving away from manual pesticide, water, and fertiliser spraying on crops in order to save time, water, and resources while also boosting the agriculture industry.
When asked to point out some advantages that these drones will grant to the farmers, in the long run, Ram Kumar, Vice President of Garuda Aerospace told journalists that “Spraying through drones has many advantages firstly spraying manually takes three to four hours to cover an acre but by using a drone, it’s just like 10 minutes. It reduces the water and pesticides used per acre.”
Drones Uses in Agriculture:
Apart from this Drones can be used for a lot of other innovative practices to maximise precision agriculture like helping provide farmers with information on soil conditions using thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral technologies, and helping identify weeds, diseases, and pests in agricultural regions.
This information can be used by the farmers to determine the exact amounts of pesticides needed to combat pests, which not only saves money but also improves field health by decreasing toxins in the soil, (Thereby making the soil suitable for organic farming) and making the product that much more healthier.
All in all, there are only benefits and no drawbacks to inculcating Drones in modern-day agricultural practices.
Regarding the sudden decision by the prime minister to launch this supply of drones, Ram Kumar, Vice President of Garuda Aerospace said this as his reply “Our founder met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, presented him with our plan to manufacture 1000 drones next month. He (PM) agreed to launch the event…With the help of drones, we’ll be able to save time, water, resources and get past manual spraying.”
Farm mechanization like these will surely be beneficial for agricultural superpowers like India which is known for having more than 50% of its workforce in the agricultural sector.
