Agrochemical group Dhanuka Agritech will promote usage of more and more drones in spraying pesticides for which it has already made partnership agreements with several agriculture universities across the country for taking up joint research.

“Farmers do not need to buy drones as these will be used sporadically used and which can be easily outsourced from customs hiring centers, said RG Agarwal, chairman of Dhanuka group. The main advantages include saving water as well as doing away with employment of manual labour in spraying, which is also a risky job, he said at a roundtable on right to agri technology.

Stating that field trials are currently going on for which the company has acquired seven drones, he said the commercial launch of drone operation will take some more time.

Chemical-free farming

Asked about the government’s resolve to promote chemical-free farming, Agarwal said it is the farmer who will decide what he has to adopt as no one can force him to adopt any particular system. “The economic consideration will definitely be one of the major factors for natural farming, which is yet to be scientifically proven method of cultivation that can ensure same yield,” he said.

Admitting that there is not enough outlay in the research and development in farm sector even by the private sector, he said the expenses are high to innovate a new molecule and unless a company with global presence, the economy of scale is difficult to achieve.

Regulatory hurdles

Speaking on the occasion, Binod Anand, secretary general of Confederation of NGO of Rural India, said there are several regulatory restrictions because of which agri research has not been progressing in the country. Citing the case of genetically modified mustard, he said companies are not free to conduct trials.

He said traceability should be fully implemented for the agri product right from the farm to the kitchen of the consumers so that transparency is maintained about the use of chemicals in crops.

After signing an agreement with Haryana’s Karnal-based Maharana Pratap Horticultural University on February 22, to jointly conduct research in crop protection chemicals, Dhanuka Agritech had said that both of them would jointly organise awareness programme for carrying out agri extension services. Farmers would be encouraged to use modern agriculture technologies such as drone usage, artificial intelligence (AI) and precision agriculture, it said.

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