Bayer said, on Wednesday, that it has initiated the commercial application of drones in agriculture from this kharif season. Drone services will be made available for crop protection purposes across paddy, cotton, soyabean, corn and horticulture crops in a phased manner, the company said in a statement.
Bayer has initiated internal trials and associations with universities and research stations for technology development and regulatory data generation. The services will benefit smallholder farmers across Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and many other states in field crops and other horticultural crops where farmers are facing challenges, it said.
Supporting rural entrepreneurs
Additionally, the move will also benefit Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and progressive farmers by providing opportunities to village entrepreneurs who are running Better Life Farming centres and others interested in leveraging drone services for their enterprises to offer solutions to smallholder farmers. Bayer will support such entrepreneurs by facilitating machinery, crop and product know-how, business support, and training.
Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head - Crop Science Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, said, “We welcome the Government’s encouraging efforts to develop drone technology ecosystem for Indian farmers and allow commercial usage of drones for crop protection purposes. This is a positive step towards sustainable agriculture and for enhancing smallholder farmers’ prosperity. We are committed to bringing about a positive change by advancing digitisation and mechanisation in agriculture to spur food security.”
Bayer said it supports the vision of Make-in-India and has partnered with innovative Indian drone startups, to make drone-based services available to farmers and create livelihood opportunities for upcoming rural entrepreneurs. Drones can be used for crop protection to spraying, mapping, and surveying, it said.