BENGALURU: Technology advancement to help reduce the labour workforce is gaining popularity among farmers, with innovations like using drones for improved farm management, reducing salt content in the soil, and solar energy for energy efficiency, even in areas with no electricity.
‘Innovation in Agriculture’ as the theme for Krishi Mela 2022 resonated well with stalls displaying different technologies. Usage of solar power in areas which have electricity for a few hours or not at all, inverters and water pumping machines working on solar energy were proving to be helpful to farmers.
One of the inverters could function for 7-8 hours, with a 2.5-hour charge. The manufacturers, Mecwin Empowering Future, said they had sold around 25,000 pieces of their most popular product, the water pumping machine, this year in India.
The introduction of drones for the sector in the 2022 budget is also being seen on the ground in South India. Beegle Agritech, a Bengaluru-based startup, has been renting out drones for mapping, surveying and image processing, and analysing crop health, crop count and yield as well. The drones capture images using multi-spectral cameras -- red depicting crops under stress, yellow showing mild stress and green showing areas performing well.
Stall owners who showcased machines for harrowing, separation and even harvesting, said the products were becoming popular among farmers as they reduced labour costs, and time investment in their farms as well. The technology was helpful in improving the quality and quantity of the harvest too. Karnataka-based de-stoning, de-hulling and polishing machines which can separate around 400kg of grains at a time were also popular.