Drones to help Nilakottai farmers spray crops
The Hindu
They are cost effective and do not damage crops
Faculty members of Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Gandhigram Rural Institute demonstrated spraying of pesticides to combat smut infestation in paddy at Vilampatti village in Nilakottai taluk in Dindigul district on Thursday.
The infestation, also known as Lakshmi disease, caused by a fungus resulted in farmers incurring huge losses in the area, stated a press release.
To tackle the issue, farmers used hand sprays filled with recommended pesticides but it ate up most of their time and money. Moreover, farmers said that there was a shortage of labourers who also did not follow precautionary measures while carrying out the process.
As a remedy, the members of Krishi Vigyan Kendra demonstrated spraying 200 gram of propiconazole fungicide and 80 gram of nativo fungicide per acre using drones which is usually carried out on the 80th day of paddy sowing, the release added.
The farmers were demonstrated that using drones were effective in covering more areas in a short period of time without inflicting damage on the crop.. Further, spraying pesticides using drones costs about ₹600 to ₹700 per acre.
Farmers who took part in the demonstration stated that the use of drones would result in healthy produce from their fields.
Director of Research and Development, GRI, B. Tamilmani, senior scientist and head-in-charge S. Senthil Kumar, subject-matter specialist M. Shahin Taj, Joint Director of Agriculture (Nilakottai) Uma and others took part in the event.