In a move to take technology to the agriculture fields, state govt has decided to grant drones to farm producers’ organizations (FPOs). The drones will be distributed to the FPOs with a massive 80% subsidy. AP is reportedly the first state in the country to utilize drones in agriculture with the state’s subsidy.
The State has already identified progressive FPOs across the state and provided training to select farmers to operate the drones. It will initially procure about 900 drones in the first phase and launch the operations from the coming kharif season. The FPOs will manage the drones for spraying of pesticides and fertilizers as per the requisition of the local farmers. The usage of drones is expected to reduce the cost of manual labor drastically and help bring down the cultivation cost.
According to initial experiments, spraying of pesticide or fertilizer in one acre of land could be completed in just seven minutes. At this rate, the FPO could cover about five acres per hour and at least 40-50 acres per day. The FPO could manage the entire village’s requirement within a fortnight and deploy the drone to neighboring village, depending on the requirement.
