Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. It is the backbone of India's economy, and the sector is making significant progress. Agriculture in the country is seeing many great technologies, like Drone Technology, which are needed to give a new lease of life to our agricultural sector. We are seeing great advancements in agriculture, and Drone Didi is one of them.
According to some reports, the agricultural drone market was expected to grow from a $1.2 billion industry in 2019 to $4.8 billion in 2024. Drone technology has varied applications - from scouting to security, and its use is becoming more ubiquitous on large and small-scale farms. The information gathered by drones on farms is often used to inform agronomic decisions and is part of a system generally referred to as ‘precision agriculture’.
A few years back, among the 6,000-odd invitees to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech at the Red Fort in Delhi, were two special guests from Madhya Pradesh who have given wings to rural women’s empowerment with their tech-based intervention in farming, earning them the moniker ‘Drone Didi’. It was heartening to note that Sunita Sharma and Khushboo Lodhi, like scores of their compatriots around the country, have undergone training under the NAMO Drone Didi scheme to use drones for spraying fertilizers on their crops and become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains and rural prosperity.
We need to remember that in many areas, drone use has become an essential part of large-scale precision farming operations. The data collected from drones recording fields help farmers plan their planting and treatments to achieve the best possible yields. Some reports indicate that using precision farming systems can increase yields by as much as 5%, which is a significant increase in an industry with typically slim profit margins.
Recently, the ambitious ‘Drone Didi’ project of the state government has officially taken flight in Haryana, with 36 women beginning specialized drone pilot training under the first batch. The Drone Didi project will redefine women as drivers of agriculture in India and use drone technology in farms with much advancement. We are proud as a nation to have the Drone Didi project taking our agriculture forward.
