Vijayawada : The state government is going to establish agriculture drone centres in 875 villages across the state in 2024-25. The cost of the each drone is Rs 10 lakh and there will be 90 per cent subsidy and the rest will be bank loan.
According to a press release issued by the state government on Monday, the drones will be used to spray pesticide and micro-nutrients on the crops.
Committees with four or five farmers who are interested in using the drones, will be formed under the limits of Rythu Sadhikara Kendras in various mandals in the state to provide drones on subsidy and loan facility. The Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University (ANGRAU) will provide necessary technical knowhow for the implementation of the scheme.
The state government has already formed a state-level committee headed by the director of agriculture to check the quality of the drones before giving them to the farmers. The agriculture department is inviting companies approved by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to supply drone models and register with the department.
The agriculture officials, ANGRAU scientists, technical officers of the AP Drone Corporation will test the drones at LAM in Guntur before giving them to the farmers.
Each drone will have an identification number and type certificate issued by the DGCA. The technical committee will go through the quality of the drone including parameters, batteries and insurance details and its capacity to discharge nutrients.
The committee will go through the capacity of these drones before recommending them to the farmers. The farmers will be given a choice to select drone models.
The government will supply pesticides and micro-nutrients suitable for the crops to minimise the expenditure.
