Kharif: AP to Field 875 Drones for Farming by June

 Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government plans to introduce 875 drones in the farming sector for the benefit of farmers. These would take up spraying of pesticides, manure, nutrients, concoctions etc in the agricultural fields to help them get better yield beginning from the Kharif season in June in the state.

The state government has already fixed the target district-wise for usage of drones and the farmers or their sons having the interest and adaptability to acquire skills are being selected to provide training to them for 10 to 15 days to operate the drones as pilots.

The government has completed the empanelling of firms from where the drones can be procured for use by farmers. If a drone costs nearly `9.80 lakh, the farmer purchasing it has to pay half the cost and avail remaining half as loan from the bank. Once the purchasing is done, he would get 80 per cent subsidy on the total cost.

Given the district-wise targets, the agriculture authorities are trying to spread awareness among the farmers on the need to adopt drone technology for farming. Firstly, they say, such farmers can save on labour charges. Farmers can also optimise the benefits from the use of pesticides, manures, nutrients, concoctions and other sprays.

When farmers use 200 liters of any spray per acre manually, they need to use only 10 litres via drone, which sprays accurately on the required crops.

A senior official from the agriculture department said, “As the empanelment of firms from which drones are to be procured has been finalised, and a total of 875 drones are targeted to be deployed across the state, efforts are underway at a brisk pace to educate and motivate farmers to procure drones and undergo training as pilots, so that by the beginning of the kharif season in June, all targeted drones will be ready for use.”

Meanwhile, though farmers welcome the state government’s move to introduce drone technology for farming to reduce input costs and to get better yield, some of them say there are practical difficulties. Due to fragmentation of farm lands into small land holdings and an increasing number of tenant farmers taking up cultivation of crops, many farmers may not be inclined to adopt drone technology. They cost factor, they note, is high.

Moreover, these farmers say they are in desperate need for gunny bags and tarpaulins sheets to procure paddy and protect the harvested crop from getting drenched in rainwater in the fields. They also want small farm tools provided to them on a subsidy basis. Besides, they complain about supply of the 10 to 15 years-old stitched gunny bags and non-availability of tarpaulin sheets.

Farmer K Srinivas from West Godavari said, “Though drone technology is welcome for farming we want the government to pay attention to issues like the drop in prices of certain crops like mangoes, chillies, tobacco, cashew nut, cocoa. We suffer damage due to untimely rainfall.”