AGRIBOT, the first DGCA-approved drone to be introduced in TS & AP

Hyderabad: Can drone technology be deployed in the agriculture sector just like that? The issue assumes significance against the backdrop of the increasing popularity and utility of cutting edge technologies, like artificial intelligence, sensor technology, Internet of Things (IoT), data sciences and drone technology in the farm sector to improve crop management and crop productivity.

According to Aukuri Kiran Kumar, an agriculture graduate from the State Agriculture University, Telangana, and managing director of Nova Agri Group, "deploying drone technology is beneficial to farmers at multiple levels. Due to shortage of labour, farmers are exposed to health hazards during spraying of insecticides and applying fertilisers, preventing excess use of chemical fertilisers and, to save input cost of farmers as well as wastage are some of the prominent issues."

To address these issues and to popularise the use of drone technologies, he said, "we have entered into an understanding with IOTech, a drone manufacturing company, located in Gurgram."

On the technology front, farmers need support from both the back-end and the front-end. Since drone technology is a new process, the requirements of each farmer would be unique and different, given the kind of crop he grows. Thus, availing drone technology has to reach them with custom and tailor-made solutions.

"We have a database of about 15 lakh farmers with us and the services have been extended to them in a three-layered structure. A group of about 50 qualified agriculture graduates respond to farmers' calls giving them advisories on how to handle their issues. Besides, the field staff visit to interact with farmers to take stock of their feedback and resolve crop-related issues. Backed by this experience, now, we are bringing 'Nova AGRIBOT' to introduce drone technology in Telangana, AP, besides Karnataka.

As part of the excise, two demonstration centres are proposed--one in Vijayawada and another in Hyderabad--for farmers to visit and know how the drone technology functions and benefits them, he added.

Prashant Aggarwal, vice-president, IoTech World Avigation, said, "Agribot is a made in India drone and the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the drones manufactured by us. To be used in farm services scores of farmers in Haryana, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh have been using them," he added.

The AGRIBOT comes in two versions, reader and radar-based, with an aircraft maximum takeoff weight of 24.9 kg, with a maximum 10 kg payload mounted capacity flying at 10 meters. It has a maximum flight time of 22 minutes with payload and 25 minutes hovering time without payload. He said it is the first multipurpose advanced drone approved by the DGCA in the country. The AGRIBOT can spray one acre in six minutes; it can be deployed for drone spraying, crop health analysis. The radar-based collision avoidance and terrain following, geo-fencing smart battery fail-safe and live HD video streaming at GCS with a range of 5 Kms are among the advanced features that make it different from others.

However, there are a few issues that both the entities are trying to sort out to make AGRIBOT more popular among farmers. It includes working with the State agriculture universities to provide remote drone pilot training to farmers at a reduced cost. Also, to get them the DGCA- approved licensed drone operators, said Kiran Kumar and Prashant Aggarwal.