The AMRUT Drone Mission today announced a collaboration with Salam Kisan, a drone-as-a-service (DaaS) and precision agriculture platform, aimed at generating sustained livelihood opportunities for candidates trained under the Mission and improving farmers' access to affordable, technology-enabled crop spraying and advisory services.
Background
India's agricultural input use has grown increasingly imbalanced over the past decade. According to data cited by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in Parliament, India's Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) fertilizer usage ratio stood at approximately 9.8:3.7:1 in Kharif 2024, against a scientifically recommended ratio of 4:2:1 — reflecting continued over-application of nitrogenous fertilizers relative to phosphorus and potassium. This imbalance is widely recognised by agricultural researchers and policymakers as a contributor to nutrient deficiencies, declining soil health, and reduced long-term crop productivity nationally.
Alongside this, overuse and imprecise application of pesticides remains a persistent concern for crop residue levels, farmer and farm-labour health, water contamination, and rising input costs for smallholder farmers. Addressing this requires farmers to have access to precise, timely, and location-specific spray and crop-health advisory, delivered through affordable service models.
Separately, the agricultural drone sector faces a significant demand-supply gap in trained personnel and equipment. Industry estimates suggest India requires close to 10 lakh agricultural drones to adequately service its farmer base, with the state of Maharashtra alone requiring an estimated 28,000 units. Against this requirement, India currently has
approximately 40,000 certified drone pilots, and Maharashtra has over 6,000 — underscoring the scale of the skilling and deployment gap that remains to be closed.
About the Collaboration
The AMRUT Drone Mission has been conducting skilling programmes to build a pipeline of DGCA-certified drone pilots for deployment across sectors, with agriculture identified as a primary use case. Under the Mission, trained candidates are supported toward livelihood outcomes either through industry placement or through drone ownership, enabled in part by
the AMRUT Vyaj Parvatha Yojana, which provides a two-year interest waiver on drone purchase financing for eligible candidates.
Under this collaboration, AMRUT-trained candidates who go on to own DGCA-certified drones will be connected to farmer demand through Salam Kisan's platform infrastructure. Salam Kisan operates two linked platforms: a farmer-facing platform that delivers precision agriculture advisory — including early pest and stress detection, crop-stage and location-
specific spray-window recommendations based on weather and satellite data, and access to booking of spray services via WhatsApp, phone call, or a Marathi-language mobile application — and a drone-operator-facing platform ("Sarathi") through which trained operators and drone owners receive service demand, are guided by crop-specific standard
operating procedures for spray parameters such as drone speed, height, and distance, and are able to generate spray records and agronomic advisory for the farmers they serve.
Under the collaboration, farmers will be able to request drone-based spraying service through Salam Kisan's channels, with fulfilment carried out by AMRUT-trained, DGCA- certified drone owner-operators, thereby aligning trained manpower with farmer demand.
Objectives of the Collaboration
The collaboration is intended to:
- Create structured, ongoing livelihood opportunities for AMRUT-trained drone pilots through demand aggregation and platform-based service delivery;
- Improve farmers' access to drone-based spraying services in a manner that is timely, need-based, and cost-effective;
- Enable more precise application of agricultural inputs — guided by satellite data, weather information, and crop-stage advisory - with the aim of reducing excess fertilizer and pesticide use, water consumption, and per-acre spraying costs for farmers;
- Support improved health outcomes for farmers and agricultural labour through reduced manual pesticide handling and application;
- Contribute toward addressing India's broader shortfall in trained drone pilots and operational agricultural drone units.
Statement
Speaking on the initiative, Rahul from JVE Konnect said, "Through the AMRUT DRONE MISSION, we aim to train and establish 1,000 drone entrepreneurs across Maharashtra over the next year, creating a robust network of skilled operators who can deliver precision agriculture services to more than 1 lakh farmers. Our focus is not only on building livelihoods but also on accelerating the adoption of drone technology across the state's agricultural ecosystem."
Statement by Dhanashri Mandhani (Salam Kisan – a brand by PRYM):
Speaking on the collaboration, Dhanashri Mandhani said, "The future of precision agriculture goes far beyond simply matching drone operators with spraying demand. Sustainable adoption will come from enabling early crop stress detection, optimizing the use of agricultural inputs, and building awareness among farmers about the measurable benefits of drone-based farming. Creating demand for precision agriculture is what will ultimately drive repeat adoption, improve farm productivity, and enhance farmer incomes."
About AMRUT Drone Mission
AMRUT Drone Mission is a skilling and livelihood initiative focused on training candidates as DGCA-certified drone pilots for deployment across multiple industry use cases, including agriculture, and supporting their transition into the workforce through placement and drone-ownership pathways, including access to financing benefits such as the AMRUT Vyaj Parvatha Yojana.
