Under an initiative of the Plant Protection Department, drones are being used to spray pesticides, fungicides and liquid fertilisers uniformly across agricultural fields in less time. The initiative also offers financial relief to farmers through a government subsidy covering 50% of the standard spraying cost.
Farmers would normally have to pay Rs 419 per acre for drone spraying. With the 50% subsidy, their expense comes down to approximately Rs 210 per acre. The initiative aims to make modern crop protection technology available to farmers at a lower cost.
For the financial year 2025-26, a target has been set to cover 3,675 acres in the district through drone spraying. Against this target, farmers have submitted applications to the Plant Protection Office for spraying across 1,870 acres. Of these, spraying has been completed on 790 acres so far.
The figures indicate that approximately 21.5% of the targeted area has been covered. A considerable portion of the area covered by applications also remains pending. Increasing awareness among farmers and accelerating the spraying process will therefore be necessary to achieve the निर्धारित target.
Traditional spraying using manual sprayers requires considerable time and labour. In comparison, a drone can spray one acre of farmland in approximately five to six minutes, using around 10 litres of water.
Drone technology also enables pesticides and liquid fertilisers to be applied uniformly to crops without requiring farmers to enter the fields for spraying. This offers an alternative to conventional methods while reducing the time required to cover agricultural land.
The Plant Protection Department is encouraging farmers to adopt modern technology, integrated pest management and scientific crop management practices. With a target of 3,675 acres and spraying completed on 790 acres so far, the progress of the initiative will be important in determining how effectively subsidised drone technology reaches farmers across the district.
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