An eye in the sky

UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)/Drones have a huge potential in #agriculture in supporting evidence-based planning and in spatial data collection. The advantages that “an eye in the sky” provides when combined with analytic tools that can interpret the data and images to actionable information have ushered in a new revolution of #farm automation.

Application areas of drone tech:

1. Crop insurance- Precise documentation of damages followed by precise estimation of reduction in estimated yields can be used in insurance procedures.

2. Cattle management- Usage of infrared camera to heat-mark cattle enabling more accurate cattle counting

3. Crop spraying- Usage of crop imagery depicting pest infestation area can result in efficient crop spraying cycles

4. Soil assessment- Before the vegetation cycle starts, #drone technology can be used to assess soil condition and thus potential yields (3D terrain mapping)

Drone technology and advanced image #dataanalytics with the capabilities it provides has the potential to become important parts of the technology mix that could fill the gap between current agricultural production and the needs of the future. Moreover, it can help in changing agriculture ecosystem perspective from being production-centric to market-centric

Mechanization and digitization will bring revolutionary changes in Indian Agriculture if introduced with proper infrastructure.