Agriculture and marketing minister K Kannababu announced drone services for the agriculture industry on Friday, bringing technology to the farmlands. In the coming fiscal year, he added, the government would launch 10,000 drones in phases. Drones will be operated from Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), which were created as a one-stop solution for agricultural difficulties, according to him.
On Friday, Kannababu presented the agricultural and allied sectors budget for 2022-23, which has a budgetary allocation of 43,052.78 crores. All programs relating to farmer welfare have been consolidated under the agricultural budget. Even though the government is paying the power companies close to 5,000 crores for free electricity supply to the farm sector, the money has been set aside in the agriculture budget. The agriculture industry has received a total investment of 12,285 crores.
Kannababu, who presented the budget for agriculture and allied sectors, stated that RBKs have become game-changers in rural regions and have received various honours.
During the next fiscal year, he added, the government will spend another 18 crores on the RBKs. "The RBKs are moving along at a rapid pace. Each RBK costs around 21.8 lakhs and there are 10,408 of them across the state "Kannababu said.
According to him, the government has made measures to use the RBKs to supply seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, quality analysis tests, and soil testing services. He said that the CEO of Niti Aayog praised the RBKs and urged all states to follow their lead. Paddy procurement is also done through RBKs, according to him.
Drone services were awarded 200 crore in the agriculture budget by the minister. "For the past two years, NG Ranga University has been undertaking tests for the deployment of drones to spray pesticides through Apsara projects. With the introduction of 10,000 drones, we will introduce specialized services. This would also result in the creation of 20,000 employment in RBKs "Kannababu said.
