Demonstration of agri drone in Udumalpet Taluk

Indian Council of Agricultural Research - National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (ICAR-NBAIR), Bangalore conducted demonstration on agri-drone for bio pesticides application in coconut, brinjal, mango and rice at Dhali, Modakkupatti, Elaiyamuthur and Valavadi villages in Udumalpet Taluk in Tirupur District in collaboration with Coconut Development Board (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India), Centre of Excellence for Coconut, Demonstration-cum-Seed Production  Dhali on March 15.     

        Shri G. Ragothuman, Assistant Director presided over the event.  He explained in detail the farmers about the utility of drone in agriculture, crop monitoring, pest detection & large scale survey and pesticide application.  Dr. K. Selvaraj, Senior Scientist (Entomology) elaborated about standard operating procedures for different crops, dosage, spray volume requirements etc during the application of drone in agriculture.  He briefed about procurement and license procedures, government financial support for drone procurement for different stakeholders like Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), Women Self Help Groups (SHG) and Custom Hiring Centre (CHC).  The programme was organized with financial support of an agri-drone project funded by ICAR, New Delhi.   Around 150 farmers, entrepreneurs, members from different FPOs participated in the event.