New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Tuesday highlighted the importance of drones in the agriculture sector while speaking to farmers and young entrepreneurs virtually. The minister discussed the significance of drone policy and how the same would benefit the agriculture sector.
Replying to a question on the number of drone schools and their high training fees, the Minister said that drone pilot courses will get cheaper as the number of training schools increases in the country in the coming days.
"As of now, there are 23 Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-certified schools for drone pilot training. In the next four-five months, as the number of schools increase, I assure you that its fees will also decrease," said Scindia. Talking about the steps taken up by the government to promote the drone industry, Scindia said, "We have directed 12 ministries to use drones for their activities."
Drones could be used in the field of agriculture, land surveys and in the mining surveys for mapping the area, he said. Reiterating the significance of drone industry that is being viewed as the revolution of this decade, Scindia stated that during the COVID time, in areas which were extremely difficult to access and which are located at higher hills, vaccines were delivered using drones.
"Under the visionary leadership of our PM Narendra Modi, the dream to equip India with better technology and drones availability, India will now be seen as a leader and not as a follower," he said. Scindia said that the country definitely needs more drone pilots and it is for this reason that their certification process has been completely decentralised. "So, now, the DGCA will only certify drone schools, and it is the drone school concerned which will grant certificates to pilots. We have completely removed bureaucracy from this process," he noted.
The Civil Aviation Ministry had earlier this month invited second round of applications for the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme that was announced last year to boost drone manufacturing in India. The Ministry also highlighted the kind of subsidies that are being given to boost the industry that could in the coming days empower the agriculture sector. Sharing their experiences with using drones, farmers and a young agriculture engineer said drones saved a lot of time.
"Earlier when we used to spray pesticides using conventional methods, it used to take so much time and was even harmful to the labourers and farmers who had to come in direct touch with those chemicals. But now, drones are being used to spray pesticides, they are not just saving time but has also zeroed the risk level to farmers and laborers," said the farmers at the virtual interaction.
