Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government plans to introduce 875 drones in the agricultural sector to benefit farmers. These will take up pesticides, fertilizers, nutrients, seasonings and more from the agricultural sector to help them get better yields from June in the state’s Kharif season.
The state government has identified targets for targets for drones, and farmers or their sons are interested and adaptable to acquire skills to provide them with 10 to 15 days of training to operate drones as pilots.
The government has completed businesses that can buy drones from farmers. If a drone is priced close to Rs 9.8 lakh, the purchaser must pay half of the fee and use the remaining half as a bank loan. After the purchase is completed, he will receive an 80% subsidy for the total cost.
Given the regional goals, agricultural authorities are trying to spread awareness among farmers about the adoption of drone technology for agriculture. First, they say, such farmers can save labor allegations. Farmers can also optimize the benefits of using pesticides, fertilizers, nutrition, seasonings and other sprays.
When farmers use 200 liters of any spray manually, they only need to use 10 liters through the drone, which sprays precisely on the desired crop.
A senior official from the agriculture department said, “As the enemy of firms from which drones are to be proved has been finalised, and a total of 875 drones are targeted to be deployed across the state, efforts are underway at a brisk pace to educate and motivate farmers to procure drones and undergo training as pilots, so that by the beginning of the kharif season in June, all targeted drones will be ready for use.”
Meanwhile, while farmers welcome the state government’s move to introduce drone technology to reduce input costs and get better benefits, some of them say there are practical difficulties. As farmland splits into small lands, more and more tenant farmers are engaged in crop cultivation, and many farmers may not be inclined to adopt drone technology. They point out that their cost factors are high.
Furthermore, the farmers said they desperately needed gunny bags and tarpaulin sheets to purchase rice fields and protect harvested crops from soaking in the fields in the rain. They also want to provide small farm tools based on subsidies. In addition, they complained about the unavailability of sewn bags and tarpaulin sheets that were supplied for 10 to 15 years.
K Srinivas, a farmer from Godavari, said: “While drone technology is welcomed for farming, we want the government to pay attention to the price drop in certain crops such as mango, chili, chili, tobacco, cashew, cocoa.
