Garuda Aerospace, Rallis ink MoU for drone spray

The drone pilots will conduct demonstrations on approximately 1,000 acres of land on crops such as paddy, onion, bengal gram, wheat and vegetables.

Mumbai:Drone startup Garuda Aerospace on Monday said it has signed an agreement with Rallis India, a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals, for spraying pesticides and crop nutrients on fields using drones. Under this agreement, Rallis will supply pesticides and crop nutrients to Garuda Aerospace for a pilot demonstration and spraying of pesticides on fields through drones mainly in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, according to a statement.

The drone pilots will conduct demonstrations on approximately 1,000 acres of land on crops such as paddy, onion, bengal gram, wheat and vegetables. "With the technology revolution up on us, we are moving towards a tech-adapted environment rapidly. We have initiated trials and experiments of our product approvals for label expansion for drone spray. It would be an emerging segment for the industry and we plan to emerge fast in this segment," said Rallis India Chief Operating Officer S Nagarajan.

This is being done in collaboration with service providers for drone application in the crop protection and crop nutrition sectors, he said. "In line with this approach, this collaboration is aimed at not only educating farmers and channel partners but also to provide first-hand experience of the advantages of drone applications. We are continuously focused on making farming more resilient. We are certain that this collaboration will further augment this endeavour," he added.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace, said: "The partnership will demonstrate end-to-end drone service solutions to farmers and the channel partners. This will also make agri operations convenient for drone pilots to conduct better demonstrations for the farmers. We seek to make farmers Atamanirbhar and create employment opportunities for them." (PTI)