CHENNAI: Farmers in Tamil Nadu will soon be able to increase yield and cut down expenses on pesticides by doing precision farming through drone application. The Centre for Aerospace Research (CASR) of Anna University is currently working on mapping farmlands to help farmers increase production. It will soon submit the final project report to the Tamil Nadu Drone Corporation.
According to CASR officials, high-tech aerial surveying drones equipped with advanced multispectral sensors are being used to accumulate data on basis of chlorophyll content in the crop. Real-time imagery of the fields with the help of high-resolution multispectral cameras would identify diseases or other stress on crops.
"Using this data, farmers can spray pesticides in the initial period itself and only in the affected areas instead of spraying harmful chemicals on the entire field. The mapping will help farmers in better monitoring of crop health, controlled spraying of pesticide and improved yield. With precision farming, they can minimise expense on pesticides to a great extent," said Senthil Kumar, director of CASR.
He said the project is in its last phase and they have carried out mapping of varieties of crops in various districts. "We will submit project report and findings to the Drone Corporation, which will then chalk out measures for its implementation," added Senthil.
CASR officials said the Centre is providing funds for use of drones in agriculture have many funds available for it. "We are now mapping fields using drones equipped with multi-spectral sensors. The collected data will be processed in our lab and then the information will be fed into drones for aerial spraying of pesticides. Our aim is to develop a drone which can do mapping, data analysis and spraying of pesticide in one go," said Senthil.
Early detection, solution
Farmers can now spray pesticides in the initial period itself and only in the affected areas instead of spraying harmful chemicals on the entire field as the drones will identify infestations