6 Best Use of Drones in Agriculture Leave a comment
The Indian economy primarily depends on agriculture. Almost 70 % of the Indian population relies on agriculture for survival and 80% of the rural population is indulged in this sector only. Agriculture’s contribution to our GDP is also significant. Although we heavily depend on agricultural produce to execute imports and exports leading to the fulfilment of foreign exchange, we are lagging in the technological advancement of this sector.
Knowing it’s one of the major concerns, promoting the use of drones in agriculture can help grow the produce. While also helping the labourers by reducing the burden of a few tasks. You may be curious how we can use drones in agriculture while it’s famous for photography and videography. Well, you will be surprised when we tell you how drones can be used to aid in farming.
Before we proceed to the use of drones in agriculture, you must know that they can prove a vital aid in the development of agrarian society. So, come let’s discuss the ways we can utilise drones to improve the primary sector. Get Ready!
Use of Drones in agriculture
Do you ever buy vegetables and fruits and see the abrupt price hike? It mostly happens when the weather gets extreme, be it summer, winter or rain. Farmers are dependent on weather to irrigate the crops and old-age methods for cultivation.
Similarly, there are several other problems which can be solved by the successful inclusion of drones. Drones can be used in many ways to serve multiple purposes. It can help in reducing the environmental impact of chemicals and enhance crop production. Let’s discuss the use of drones in agriculture in detail.
1. Soil Monitoring
While farmers can’t monitor the soil of an entire field, the use of drones in agriculture can make it possible. Through various sensors and cameras, drones can monitor the soil. However, mini buckets can also be attached to them to collect soil samples for better supervision. Subsequently, it can be used to analyse whether the soil is suitable for cultivation or not.
2. Even diffusion of Fertiliser and Pesticides
We often witness substance rise in the prices of crops due to insufficient as well as uneven application of fertilisers and pesticides. We often come across cases where their excess use ravaged the crops. On the contrary, some cases show their lack of amount led to the breeding of crop pests. Drones can effectively carry out this function by spraying these materials reducing the agricultural runoff.
3. Surveying the Field and Boundaries
As your eyes aren’t able to get the aerial shot of the field, camera drones can do that for you. They can supervise the topography and ensure that the boundaries are safely maintained. Any unwanted intervention will be captured in the memory of the drone. Additionally, drones can monitor the movement of livestock to prevent damage to crops.
4. Tracking Growth
Even if everything aligns with the plan, the regular supervision and monitoring of crops are essential to get them prepared for the harvest timely. If they are not harvested on time, it will lead to a price hike in the market. We have to do future planning so that a good amount of yield is possible and nobody bears losses.
However, our naked eyes can’t monitor each crop’s healthy or unhealthy growth. That’s where drones can help us avail the accurate data of their growth. We can capture multispectral images of crops through drones and supervise their growth properly.
5. Crop Plantation
Imagine using a drone to plant crops. Interesting, right? But are they robots or what? No, what we mean by crop plantation is planting the seeds. If you’ve ever seen farmers cultivating the field, you’d know that after ploughing, they plant seeds maintaining distance between them. This function can be done by drones as well. And it will increase the speed of seed dropping, saving farmers time.
6. Weather-shift Detection
Weather plays a crucial role in agriculture. From being the best friend to the worst enemy of farmers, it can experience sudden shifts that may not be predicted accurately by humans. Drones can detect the upcoming shift in weather conditions. Having advanced weather information helps you be prepared for it.
These are the major applications of drones in agriculture. It’s not common in India as of now, but in developed countries, they are already in use leading to efficient production. In the upcoming years, India also hopes to see technically advanced agriculture.
3 Common Types of Drones Used in Agriculture
Not every drone can be used for agricultural activities. Certain types are made for this purpose. Come, let me tell you about such drone models.
1. Quadcopters
Quadcopters, also known as Quadrotors are models with four motors arranged in a square configuration. These are highly versatile flying machines with the ability to fly at low altitudes and hover over crops.
They provide you with a close inspection of the crops. With the inclusion of GPS and high-quality sensors, it can also help in field surveys and crop monitoring. More importantly, they avail the service of spraying fertilisers and pesticides.
2. Fixed-Wing Drones
Fixed-wing drones resemble old-age aeroplanes due to their design. These are the most common drones used in agriculture. They are characterised by high flight endurance and their ability to cover vast areas in a single flight making them a perfect option for crop surveillance and field mapping.
3. Hybrid Drones
As the name suggests, hybrid drones possess the features of both Quadcopter and Fixed-wing drones. They are more flexible as well as adaptable to agricultural practices. With the combined ability to fly at low altitudes and high flight endurance, they are ideal for crop monitoring, field mapping, and other functions.
Government Initiatives to Promote the Use of Drones in Agriculture
India is not so technologically advanced when it comes to agriculture. Looking at the countries around us, it’s important for us to compete or we can lag. Therefore, the Indian government has taken a few initiatives to promote drone utilisation in agriculture to enhance productivity and efficiency.
The most significant one is the Kisan Drone Subsidy Program, also known as the Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanisation. It offers financial aid depending on the drone’s ownership and type of farmer. Under this scheme, Farmer’s Producers Organizations (FPOs) are provided grants up to 75% of the cost of agriculture drones for their demonstrations on the farmers’ fields.
In addition, Agriculture graduates are eligible to get up to Rs 5 Lakh for drone purchases. If you want to learn about this scheme in detail, find it here.
Summary
Drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles which possess the ability to serve multiple purposes and one of them is agriculture. The use of drones in agriculture is a developing step that can help India lead the world of agriculture if utilised effectively.
There are various ways a drone can be used to help in agriculture such as crop plantation, detecting crop health, monitoring livestock movement, security surveys, field mapping, etc. However, you need to use the right kind of drones for agricultural purposes so that they enhance efficiency. The most common drones are Quadcopter, Fixed-wing and Hybrid drones.
The government is also taking initiatives from their end to promote the deployment of drones in agriculture. One of the widely famous schemes is the Kisan Drone Subsidy Program, while there are many more waiting for you. So, if you’re keen on bringing a change in agriculture, make your purchase right now.
For more such pieces, stay tuned!
