THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Agriculture Department is gearing up to use drones to study various issues, including natural calamities affecting the state’s agriculture sector.
Crop damage, pest attacks and soil studies can be speeded up using the helicam-fitted drones, the department said on Friday. A drone was test-flown outside Agriculture Minister V S Sunilkumar’s office at the Secretariat annexe on Friday. The technology has been developed jointly by a number of institutions including IIT-Chennai and Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.
Sunilkumar said the technology has already been tried out in a number of locations, including Methran Kayal and Kuttanad paddy fields.
The drones will soon be used in the kole wetlands of Thrissur and Ponnani, in the agricultural regions of Idukki such as Kanthalloor, Vattavada and Attapadi in Palakkad district.