While presenting the Union Budget for 2022-2023 earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a drone facility for farmers called Kisan Drones.
Drones will be used to inspect crops, digitise land records, and spray herbicides, insecticides, and other nutrients, she claimed. She also stated that startups would be encouraged to participate in the ‘Drone Shakti’ initiative, which will carry out a series of evaluation drives and promote the use of drones as a service. But she remained mum on how the drones would be funded and who would be responsible for paying for them.
Drone services will be expensive only in the early years, according to Ramesh Chand, a member of the NITI Aayog. “Over time, because of sheer economies of scale, it will be cheaper than human labour,” Chand said. “Let’s give this new software a try.” If a group of farmers hires a drone for a single cluster, the cost per farmer will be lower. Also, the cost of human health in manual spraying versus drone spraying must be considered,” he noted.
The department of agriculture estimates that the service of a drone that has the capacity to carry a 10 kg payload will cost Rs 350-450 per acre, depending on various factors such as the number of hours drones are used, the size of the farmland, the crop type and the topography, the report added.
As part of its attempts to boost domestic drone manufacture, the government prohibited the import of drones last week, with some exceptions like as for R&D, defence, and security purposes. The Civil Aviation Ministry, which liberalised drone restrictions in August 2021, also eliminated the need for a drone pilot licence to operate drones in the country.
An agricultural drone for spraying made in India costs Rs 4-5 lakh, according to the article. Meanwhile, a Delhi-based firm claims to be able to provide farm drone services for Rs 12-15,000 per day.
According to the journal, Ashutosh Sharma, a former secretary in the Department of Science and Technology (DST), once the sector opens up, the price of Indian drones will drop dramatically. “As demand grows, more Indian companies will begin to build drones.” Drones made in India will be less expensive than those made in other countries. “Drone production is a straightforward technique,” he explained.