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HomePosts Tagged "drone technology"
Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Drones, India, Live Stock

This initiative aims to improve resilience against climate change by providing facilities like fish drying yards, processing centers, and emergency rescue facilities, while also supporting climate-resilient practices such as seaweed cultivation and green fuel initiatives.

Union Minister of State George Kurian inaugurates workshop on Application and Demonstration of Drone Technology in Fisheries and Aquaculture emphasising upon drone technology being the game changer in fisheries sector. As way forward towards transforming the fisheries sector in a holistic way and bringing about an economic upturn and prosperity through the Blue Revolution in the country the Department of Fisheries, MoFAH&D, Government of India, has announced cumulative investments to the tune of Rs 38,572 crore through various schemes.

During the Inaugural address George Kurian, Minister of State, Department of Fisheries and Ministry of Minority Affairs highlighted the initiatives taken by the department of Fisheries and the remarkable growth of India’s fisheries sector, propelled by strategic investments and progressive policies over the past decade. Union Minister of State announced the development of 100 climate-resilient coastal fishermen villages under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), with Rs 2 crore allocated per village to enhance infrastructure and promote sustainable livelihoods. This initiative aims to improve resilience against climate change by providing facilities like fish drying yards, processing centers, and emergency rescue facilities, while also supporting climate-resilient practices such as seaweed cultivation and green fuel initiatives. The Minister highlighted the role of drone technology in monitoring aquaculture farms and fisheries infrastructure, especially during disasters, and revealed plans to equip one lakh fishing vessels with transponders for real-time tracking, weather alerts, and communication, with an investment of Rs 364 crores.

Since its inception, the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) has focused on promoting sustainable, economically viable, and inclusive growth in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Key initiatives include modern aquaculture practices, satellite-based monitoring, and recent exploration of drone technology for fish transport, surveillance, and environmental monitoring.

 Drones offer a range of applications to numerous challenges in aquaculture, with key critical areas of intervention including water sampling and identification of diseases and fish feed management. The scope also extends to managing aquaculture farms, monitoring fish marketing, assessing damage to fisheries infrastructure and rescue operations during natural disasters. For instance, underwater drones, can monitor fish behaviour in their natural habitats as well as signs of distress such as erratic swimming patterns.

The Department of Fisheries, MoFAH&D, organized a Workshop on Application and Demonstration of Drone Technology in Fisheries and Aquaculture on 8th November 2024 at ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, Kerala. The event took place in the gracious presence of Shri George Kurian, Hon’ble Minister of State, Department of Fisheries and Ministry of Minority Affairs along with Dignitaries, Scientists, State fisheries officials, Fishermen and fisherwomen. The Workshop on Application and Demonstration of Drone Technology provided a unique platform to showcase innovative technological advancements, emphasizing the transformative role of drone technology in the fisheries sector to maximize its potential. Many fishermen, fisherwomen, scientists, entrepreneurs, students, and other delegates participated in the event.

Dr Grinson George, Director of CMFRI, set the welcome note to the gathering and set the context for the one-day workshop. This was followed by opening remarks from Dr B K Behera, Chief Executive, NFDB, who highlighted various schemes and initiatives, encouraging stakeholders in the fisheries sector to take advantage of these benefits.

Neetu Kumari Prasad, Joint Secretary (Marine), addressed the gathering, highlighting the benefits of the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna and reaffirming the Department of Fisheries’ commitment to scaling up the fisheries sector. It was emphasized that the Department of Fisheries has consistently championed the infusion of technology to drive sustainable development in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Through various schemes, it has introduced advancements to boost fish production, improve resource management, and increase operational efficiency. In line with these initiatives the department in collaboration with NFDB, has organized drone demonstrations at key locations, including the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) in Barrackpore, Kolkata, and Gyan Bhawan in Patna, Bihar.

Dr. V V Suresh, Head Mariculture division and startup EyeROV Technologies pvt. Ltd. presented on the application of drone technology and its challenges in the fisheries sector.  Following this the distribution of “Cadalmin BSF PRO” a specially formulated fish feed designed to support sustainable aquaculture practices to farmers was also held. In addition, a brochure, titled “EG Sailas Centre of Excellence and Innovation,” was launched, highlighting key advancements and contributions to the field of marine fish microbiome and nutrigenomics. Furthermore, the session also marked the official launch of the Marine Biological Association of India (MBAI) National Symposium, an event aimed at fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among marine science professionals across the nation.

This initiative aims to improve resilience

Agribusiness, Agrotech, Company News, Drones, India, Taiwan

This initiative is expected to broaden career opportunities for Indian pilots in international markets, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, and urban management.

In a significant move to boost the employability of Indian drone pilots, AVPL International, a leading player in AgriTech and drone technology, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Taiwan-based Ahamani Advanced Inc. This collaboration was unveiled at the 2024 India-Taiwan Industrial Collaboration Summit, organized by FICCI.

The MOU aims to facilitate the dual certification of Indian drone pilots, allowing them to earn credentials from both the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) in Taiwan. This initiative is expected to broaden career opportunities for Indian pilots in international markets, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, and urban management. With certifications recognized in countries that adhere to CAA standards, Indian drone pilots will be better positioned to compete for jobs globally.

 Preet Sandhuu, Founder & MD of AVPL International, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: “This MOU marks a pivotal moment for Indian drone pilots. By equipping our youth with essential skills and dual certification, we are not only paving the way for their success in the global market but also empowering them to contribute meaningfully to the international drone industry. This initiative reflects our commitment to nurturing talent and innovation, ultimately benefiting our nation and our partners.”

 In addition to certification, the MOU also outlines plans for educational collaboration with Taiwanese universities to develop specialized courses in drone technology. These training programs aim to prepare Indian pilots with the skills required to thrive in a rapidly changing industry. Chi TC Kung, representing Ahamani Advanced Inc., highlighted the significance of this partnership: “Our collaboration with AVPL International showcases our mutual commitment to advancing drone technology and developing skilled professionals. Through this dual certification program, we are creating new career pathways for Indian pilots and enhancing Taiwan’s status as a hub for technological innovation. This partnership is a strategic step towards mutual growth in the drone sector for both nations.”

This collaboration is poised to open international career pathways for Indian youth and reinforce India’s standing in the global drone market. It also aligns with Ahamani Advanced Inc.’s goal of cultivating global partnerships to expand its technological reach.

The MOU is set to span five years, with the possibility of renewal based on the success of the initiative. The announcement at the India-Taiwan Industrial Collaboration Summit underscores India’s commitment to advancing drone technology and building a skilled workforce capable of meeting global demands.

The alliance between AVPL International and Ahamani Advanced Inc. aims to develop a pool of certified drone pilots, enhancing economic and technological exchanges between India and Taiwan, while addressing the growing demands of the global industry.

This initiative is expected to broaden career

Agrotech, Company News, India, Inputs

Syngenta and IoTech will endevour to deploy 2000 drones to train and develop rural youth for using drone technology.

In a significant move, driven by the vision of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi of large-scale use of drones in agriculture, Syngenta India Pvt Ltd (SIPL) has partnered with IoTechWorld Avigation for facilitating introduction of drone spraying across India. Under this agreement, the two companies will work on creating employment opportunities for rural youth by training and preparing them for using drone technology.     

Syngenta will be working closely with IoTech to promote the drone Spray technology in all educational and promotional campaigns, wherever required, as well as endeavor support in the deployment of minimum 2000 drones under the micro and village-level agri-entrepreneur program and train and develop rural youth. Syngenta and IoTech will work together to encourage 200 agri-entrepreneurs and village-level entrepreneurs developed by Syngenta Foundation India to partner in this program. 

Both parties agree to work together to harness their strengths to promote spray of Syngenta approved chemicals using drone technology of IoTechWorld, in different territories of India. “In the first phase, 200 rural youth will be trained and employed for spraying. Large-scale trials over 400 acres were conducted and data submitted to regulators for 20 crops”, informed Susheel Kumar, MD & Country Head Syngenta India. IoTech’s drone Agribot is being used across all of Syngenta’s spray services and products.

“We are revolutionizing the way spraying is done in India and helping rapid and advanced mechanization of Indian agriculture. Along with Syngenta, we want to help farmers in getting best utilization and results of plant protection chemicals, save cost, and get better output. We also want to contribute to generating employment in rural areas by developing agri-entrepreneurs,” said Deepak Bhardwaj, Director, IoTechWorld Avigation.

“Complementing the joint efforts of Syngenta India Pvt Ltd and IoTech, Syngenta Foundation India is engaged in identifying suitable Agri Entrepreneurs (AEs) and facilitating drone pilot training to them. This will help in providing additional income generating opportunity to our AEs. The Foundation will play a catalyst role in overall program and would continue to support this endeavour in future,” said Rajendra Jog, Country Director, Syngenta Foundation India.

Syngenta and IoTech will endevour to deploy

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agro Universities, Agrotech, India

1000+ farmers participated in demonstration programmes

ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack held a series of demonstrations on Drone Technology in different villages of Cuttack district covering 108 acres of rice crop area in 9 villages belonging to 4 blocks of Cuttack district, Odisha. More than 1000 farmers participated in demonstration programmes and farmers were briefed on usefulness and mechanism operation of drone technology especially in crops like rice considering its wetland nature and amount of pesticides being applied.

Department of Agriculture and Farmers welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India has sanctioned central assistance to ICAR for demonstrating Drone Technology for implementation of Component number 1 under Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM). 

Under this mission, it has been directed to conduct large scale demonstrations to promote use of Drone Technology in agriculture.

1000+ farmers participated in demonstration programmesICAR-National Rice

Agrotech, Company News, North America, R&D, World

Sentera, a Minnesota, USA-based ag analytics platform powered by machine learning, has announced the launch of its Direct Georeferencing (DGR) System, which quickly connects to an ag drone to add high-precision location certainty to high-resolution aerial imagery.

“Drones have transformed data collection processes for agriculture,” said Ryan Nelson, chief mechanical engineer, Sentera. “With the DGR, we’re taking it one step further by eliminating inefficiencies so our customers can deliver insights faster.”

The Sentera DGR System features a tactical-grade inertial measurement unit (IMU) and RTK GPS that tightly integrates with a sensor, like Sentera’s 6X Multispectral or 6X Thermal. DGR-enabled products quickly connect with compatible drones, including the DJI Matrice 300 and several MAVLINK-based platforms.

The DGR System adds high-precision geolocation information in real time, which means fewer images are required to cover the same area. As a result, users can eliminate the need for the orthomosaic stitching process. In real-world use, drone flight times decrease by up to 60 per cent, and the time to move from collection to analysis can be reduced by up to 8x.

“Many times, image stitching is just a necessary evil to assemble the data that produces a crop insight,” said Nelson. “With the DGR System, this process is eliminated – completely transforming how fast we can deliver data.”

Because image stitching is no longer required to precisely geolocate data, many analysis workflows can be accomplished right at the field edge. Where cloud-based processing is preferred, the DGR System’s dramatic reduction in data volume accelerates production rates versus current techniques.

“Efficiency in the field allows our customers to spend their time where it matters most – analysing key crop health and performance measurements to validate outcomes and performance,” said Nelson.

Sentera, a Minnesota, USA-based ag analytics platform

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, India

Benefit and usage of drone technology explained and showcased to the farmers 

To promote drone technology and popularise it for spraying purposes and precision agriculture, a demonstration was organised at ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer. 

Dr S N Saxena, Director, ICAR-NRCSS briefed the benefits of emerging drone technology for spraying pesticides, insecticides, and liquid fertilisers. He emphasised that the technology could also be extended for crop monitoring and assessing soil health.

He also said that this could be a boon for seed spice and seed spices-based fruits and vegetable growers.

The event was attended by around 100 farmers, college students and the entire ICAR-NRCSS staff. 

Dr D S Bhati, Head, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Ajmer stated that the technology is excellent for young farmers and agriculture graduates and their employability. Additionally, because it uses contactless spraying technology, which will assist in eliminating the adverse effects of spraying pesticides and insecticides to farmers during spraying. 

Benefit and usage of drone technology explained

Agrotech

Cambodian farmers have rapidly expanded their planting areas and started applying XAG’s agricultural drones for productivity boom

XAG has recently introduced drone technology in Cambodia’s cassava cultivations to help small-scale farmers earn better yield while bringing down the costs of farm input. Cassava is the most important agro-industrial crop in Cambodia that provides employment and livelihood to thousands of rural workers. XAG delivers new energy to this sector with its agricultural drones that can use less water and chemical and ease the workload on farm. 

To meet the growing demand of cassava-based products including food, flour, paper and alcohol, Cambodian farmers have rapidly expanded their planting areas and started applying XAG’s agricultural drones for productivity boom.

Chhay Thi is an early adopter of spray drone who owns 20 hectares of land in Varin District, Siem Reap Province of Cambodia. This May, he ordered services from XAG local partner Red Sparrow Cambodia and had the XAG Agricultural Drone to demonstrate autonomous weeding on his 10-hectare cassava field.

“If I have an XAG drone in busy seasons to help me with crop protection, I can save $8-10 per hectare that is formerly spent on manual spraying. Drone operation also reduces the use of chemical by 10-30 per cent, so the resources and money saved can be reallocated to the other crop cultivation,” said Chhay Thi who witnessed the whole process of drone spraying demonstration.

Cambodian farmers have rapidly expanded their planting

Agrotech

The company is offering its customers with Synergen DRT: the first solution to come out of our DropForward concept

One of the leading global suppliers of specialty chemicals for agriculture, Clariant has launched DropForward: a focused approach to providing precision application with adjuvants and co-formulants. The company is offering its customers Synergen DRT: the first solution to come out of our DropForward concept.

Synergen DRT, the drift control agent and biological activator specifically for drones. Developed in Clariant’s high-tech facilities in Germany, and under real-life conditions in Brazil, this high-performing adjuvant allows the application of standard pesticides under the low volume conditions of small drone tanks.

“Synergen DRT helps to control drift and volatility of fine droplets during application and helps improving the coverage and penetration of the actives in the leaves, boosting biological performance as well as making drone spraying more sustainable and environmentally friendly,” said Fabio Caravieri, Clariant’s Head of Marketing, Industrial & Consumer Specialties.

The new adjuvant technology has shown that with small doses of the adjuvant, a robust performance is obtained in the control of drift and performance, even when used with mixtures of products, and standing out in the desiccation of weeds, ensuring higher efficacy of herbicides.

The company is offering its customers with

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

The SOP for drone regulation for pesticide application covers important aspects like statutory provisions, flying permissions, area distance restrictions, overcrowded areas restriction, drone registration, safety insurance, operation plan, air flight zones, weather conditions etc.

The Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, during the release of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for drone application in Agriculture, has said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi all policies since 2014 are aimed at doubling farmer’s income by 2022. He said that the formation of Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs) and the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) will bring about a revolution in the lives of small farmers.

The Minister further, informed that the drones were used for the first time in warding off the locust attacks in various states of the country. He said that the government is making continuous efforts to infuse new technologies in agriculture so as to provide sustainable solution in context of enhancing the productivity as well as efficiency of the agriculture sector.

The SOP for drone regulation for pesticide application covers important aspects like statutory provisions, flying permissions, area distance restrictions, weight classification, overcrowded areas restriction, drone registration, safety insurance, piloting certification, operation plan, air flight zones, weather conditions, SOPs for pre, post and during operation, emergency handling plan.

Considering the unique advantages of Drone technologies in agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, (Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare) in consultation with all the stakeholders of this sector, has brought out Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of drones in pesticide and nutrient application that provides concise instructions for effective and safe operations of drones.

During the release of SOPs event in the Agriculture Ministry, Secretary Agriculture Sanjay Agarwal delivered an address on advantages of drone technologies. Others who witnessed the event were Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje.

The SOP for drone regulation for pesticide

Agrotech

Experts from agri-industry will give their insights on the drone technology that is helping farmers in generating new incomes

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit, scheduled from December 24-27, at Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, will highlight about the ‘Rise of Drone in Agriculture’.

The use of drone in the agriculture industry is steadily growing allowing the farmers, Agri experts and agricultural engineers, to help streamline their operations, using robust data analytics to gain effective insights into their crop. In the workshop at Agrovision 2021, experts from agri-industry will give their insights on the drone technology that is helping farmers in generating new incomes and checking on the health of the crops.

Farmers from in and around Vidarbha and adjoining states will be participating in the event this year. Furthermore, conferences on current issues in agriculture and allied agri sectors will be held. Around 400 exhibitors are likely to participate in the event.

The exclusive media partner is Agro Spectrum India along with BioSpectrum India and Nufoods Spectrum India. MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications is the organiser of the event.

Experts from agri-industry will give their insights