Rayagada: Babu Rao, a native of Rayagada district has given a new meaning to Crop treatment in his village. The B Ed graduate has successfully developed a drone that not only takes care of spraying pesticides and fertilizers across acres of land, but also does the job of sowing seeds.
Rao is a classic case of early birds in the country who have exploited use of drone technology for reaping rich harvest. According to experts, the next big area for drones would be the agriculture sector.
Rao could not get a job after his B Ed but converted his desperation into an opportunity in the agricultural fields of his native village in Sanyasiguda of Gudari block. He spent Rs 3.50 lakh and 20 months to make the drone spraying machine. He says that the machine will address the shortage of manpower in the agriculture field, bring efficiency in farming activity and improve productivity.
Use of drone in agriculture falls under the realm of law after the Central Government notified the new policy on drones on December 1, 2018.
He drew inspiration from the farming activities practiced in western countries and decided to replicate them in his village. “Once I watched a video from Youtube that farmers on foreign countries have been using drones in spraying pesticides in the field, following which I started making a drone myself”. He succeeded in his endeavour.
Drones are being considered as the next big agents of change across verticals and a disruptive force in the field of agriculture as well in India. At the ongoing Indian Science Congress in Jullandhar, a session was dedicated to ‘drone and agriculture’ where tech start-ups and agriculture scientists introspected the fascinating opportunities that the unmanned aerial technology can bring to farmers. According to an estimate, predicted market value for drones in agriculture worldwide alone is estimated to be around $32.4 billion.
