SPSR Nellore District Agricultural Council Advisory Committee Chairman Doddamreddy Niranjan Babu Reddy has exhorted the farmers to adopt drone technology in their farms to cut costs and also improve productivity.
Chairing the council meeting here on Friday, he said farmers need not carry heavy tanks or spray hazardous pesticides on crops risking their health as GPS-fitted drones were now at their service. Hovering low over a paddy field, drones can move on a GPS-defined route spraying pesticide.
‘’The advantage of deploying a drone is that it saves time and energy by ensuring spraying of nutrients and pesticides evenly on all plants without any wastage,” he said, adding that the drones would go a long way by also addressing labour shortage faced by paddy growers in the district .
He said that the paddy growers in the district were now happy as the market price of paddy was higher than the minimum support price announced by the Centre. He asked the civil supplies department officials to cut down on delays in payment of transport and labour charges to farmers completing the produce sale through Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs).
He underscored the need for training more persons to operate unmanned aeries vehicles. Department officials said the department had so far provided training to 18 technicians.
He asked the officials to ensure that e-crop booking by each and every farmer as subsidised seeds and other farm inputs, as well as marketing support through the Rythu Bharosa Kendras, would be available only to those growers who had completed the process.
District Collector M. Hari Narayanan said department officials, as well as individual farmers were equally responsible for completing the e-kyc process.
