Nellore: A one-day workshop and awareness camp on Drone Technology, organized by the Agriculture Department, was held here on Wednesday. The workshop stressed the importance of adopting farm mechanization to secure better profits for farmers and overcome the labor shortage in cultivation.
The workshop also decided to provide training to farmers on Drone Technology as part of encouraging farm mechanization.
Joint Collector Kollabathula Karthik inaugurated the workshop at SR Sankaran Hall, located within the Collectorate premises, on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, he urged farmers to utilize Drone Technology to secure better profits by minimizing cultivation costs.
Addressing the one-day workshop for farmers on Drone utilization, organized by the Agriculture Department, the Joint Collector emphasized that it was time for farmers to adopt farm mechanization to achieve higher profits with reduced investment in cultivation.
He explained that as part of this initiative, both the central and state governments have made Drone Technology available to ease the burden of labor and eliminate unnecessary strain in the fields.
The Joint Collector further stated that the central and state governments are offering ‘Drone Machines,’ which typically cost Rs 10 lakhs, for just Rs 2 lakhs by providing an 80% subsidy. This initiative aims to reduce the financial burden on farmers in cultivation.
He also mentioned that farmers can form groups of five to purchase machinery, with each farmer contributing just Rs 40,000. Additionally, the government is facilitating bank loans at very low interest rates to support these investments.
District Agriculture Officer (DAO) P. Satya Vani said that 41 associations are being formed to provide Drones. She outlined that priority would be given to areas where paddy and horticultural crops are extensively cultivated.
