Drones are now making waves in Agriculture. According to a report by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, ‘agricultural drones’ are expected to capture 80 per cent of the commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market and has the potential to generate more than 100,000 jobs in the US.
Agricultural drones are UAVs used for precision agriculture, which is a modern method of farming that uses big data, aerial imagery and other means to optimise efficiency. The drone collects the farm’s image and makes a colour-coded map based on its health, which is then assessed by the UAV Company.
Agriculture Insurance Company of India along with Skymet, a weather forecasting company, has conducted a few pilots in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan to see how drones can be used to survey crops and help map crop diseases along with helping insurance companies settle claims.
“Remote sensing through UAV allows nondestructive sampling to observe agronomic indicators in every square metre. We did a pilot project last year and plan to increase its coverage across Rajasthan and Gujarat this year,” said Jatin Singh, CEO of Skymet, in an interview with a business daily.
This technology has been ubiquitously used in the US and many other developed countries. The campaign was made possible using satellite remote sensing technologies and drones across 10 villages in Gujarat’s Morbi district last year.
In a single flight session, a UAV can cover an area of about 5 sq km. It can take two such trips in a day. These UAVs have the ability to send images every fifth second and provide geo-referenced images.
In one instance, using drone information from a client of Agribotix (an agricultural drone company) avoided sacrificing the entire crop after a natural disaster. Assuming that the entire field had to be written off, the drones found that only a portion was damaged and the rest could keep growing. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had restricted the use of drones by civilians and has recently clarified that it is fast tracking the process of issuing guidelines for civil use. If there are a lot of players in this market, then the prices of the drones would be less thereby helping the farmers with their produce.
— mathew.maniamkott@gmail.com