According to a recent article by the New Indian Express, apple growers in remote and inaccessible areas of the tribal Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh are into a new revolution as drone delivery of apples to markets has been successfully tested. The Himachal Pradesh government approved Drone Policy 2022 in June, this year to promote drone-enabled technologies to usher in economic growth and create employment opportunities.
Drones have been used extensively in agriculture, especially to map agricultural plots and apply fertilizers and pesticides on large farms. Countries like Israel even use them to harvest apples from farms. Artificial intelligence (AI) is required for fruit-picking drones to recognize the condition of the fruit and pick only the ripe ones.
According to experts, artificial intelligence (AI) is a strong suit for the Indian drone ecosystem. AI can direct a drone to automatically shoot pods with seeds and plant nutrients into a prepared soil patch as one use for seed pod planting. Drones equipped with more advanced AI systems will be able to precisely water only the areas where moisture deficits are detected using thermal, multi-spectral, or hyper-spectral sensors.
A farmer will be able to predict the production of lumber or sugarcane if they add a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor to the drone. Even now, some academics are developing software that uses AI to analyze soil more quickly. This technology will produce precise 3D maps that can be used for planting, irrigation, and predicting nitrogen levels, helping farmers plan the right amount of fertilizer inputs required for crop development.
The Indian market for agricultural drones is expected to rise fourfold by 2028, with a projected compound annual growth rate of over 25% between 2022 and 2028, based on a recent study. Using drone technology, the future Indian farmer will be able to gain valuable insights into which crop to produce, how much to grow, how many fertilizers and pesticides to apply, and much more. However, India confronts challenges due to weather dependency on drones, a lack of effective internet access across our arable farms, a lack of knowledge and competence among end users, and the potential for misuse, according to a report published by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management.
The following are the initiatives by the Government of India to encourage the use of drones in agriculture:
- Drones were employed in the ‘Swamitva Yojana,’ which attempted to create a record of land ownership in villages as well as transport medications and vaccines.
- The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), early in 2022, announced a drone certification program to maintain minimum safety and quality standards as it will support domestic manufacture.
- The government formulated a PLI program for drones and drone components, allocating Rs 120 crore over three fiscal years.
- The government has set an ambitious goal of making India the drone hub of the world by 2030.
- The government updated the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) guidelines, which now allow for grants of up to Rs. 10 lakhs or 100% of the cost of an agricultural drone to be purchased by Krishi Vigyan Kendras, State agriculture universities, and ICAR institutes.
- In 2021, the government proposed liberalized drone rules to establish a “digital sky platform,” a single-window online system that is business-friendly, requires little human intervention, and where most approvals are self-generated.
Several companies, including IoTechworld Aviation and Garuda Aerospace, have consolidated plans to produce and market farming drones, following the relaxation of regulations by the civil aviation ministry. The rapid advancement of drone technology has also led to a considerable fall in the cost of drones in agriculture, which will in turn improve farmers’ ability to integrate the technology into their farming techniques for improved yields and better crop management.
