COIMBATORE: The State government has decided to procure 60 drones for holding demonstration exercises on spraying fertilizers using drones in 14,400 hectares of land under the Kisan-drone scheme of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) project at a budget outlay of Rs 10.32 during 2022 - 2023.
The plan announced in the agriculture budget presented in the Assembly on Saturday will be implemented by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The university has been carrying out research for the past three years using drones to address labour shortage in the farming sector.
As per the announcement, drone infrastructure will be created in constituent colleges, research stations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras of TNAU to popularize usage of drone for application of fertilizers, manures and pesticides.
Speaking to TNIE, KS Subramanian, director of research, TNAU, said, “We have been researching on using drones since 2019 by using three types of drones in 4,500 hectares of university land. A 50-litre capacity drone can spray 30 litres of agri inputs on one acre of land in 10 minutes. This is equal to the work completed by a worker in one day.”
“TNAU needs people to operate drones for agricultural operations. During Gaja Cyclone in delta districts, drones were used to assess extent of damage in affected areas,” KS Subramanian said.
“There is huge labour shortage in farming sector. While the cost of using drone will be Rs 500 to Rs 650 per acre, labourers charge nearly Rs 1,200 for the same quantum of work. Speed is also better with drones,” said S. Pazhanivelan, professor and head of remote sensing and GIS application in crop monitoring, TNAU.