Ministry to provide grant of up to Rs 10 lakhs to agricultural institutes for purchase of drones
In a major boost to promote precision farming in India, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has issued a guideline to make drone technology affordable to the stakeholders.
The guidelines of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) have been amended which envisages granting 100 per cent of the cost of agriculture drone or Rs 10 lakhs, whichever is less, as a grant for the purchase of drones by the farm machinery training and testing institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and state agriculture universities for taking up large scale demonstrations of this technology on the farmers’ fields.
The Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) would be eligible to receive a grant up to 75 per cent of the cost of agriculture drones for its demonstrations on the farmers’ fields.
A contingency expenditure of Rs 6,000 per hectare would be provided to implementing agencies that hire drones for demonstrations from Custom Hiring Centres, Hi-tech Hubs, drone manufacturers and start-ups.
To provide agricultural services through drone application, 40 per cent of the basic cost of the drone and its attachments or Rs 4 lakhs, whichever less would be available as financial assistance for drone purchase by existing custom hiring centres which are set up by a cooperative society of farmers, FPOs and rural entrepreneurs.
The new CHCs or the Hi-tech Hubs that will be established by the cooperative societies of farmers, FPOs and rural entrepreneurs with financial assistance from SMAM, RKVY or any other Schemes can also include Drone as one of the machines along with other agricultural machines in the projects of CHCs/Hi-tech Hubs.
Agriculture graduates establishing custom hiring centres would be eligible to receive 50 per cent of the basic cost of a drone and its attachments or up to Rs 5 lakhs in grant support for drone purchases. Rural entrepreneurs should have passed the class tenth examination with the remote pilot license from the institute specified by the Director-General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) or from any authorised remote pilot training organisation.
The subsidised purchase of agriculture drones for CHCs/Hi-tech Hubs will make the technology affordable, resulting in their widespread adoption.
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has also brought out Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of Drone application with pesticides for crop protection in agricultural, forestry, non-cropped areas.
