Lok Sabha Question No. 276 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-22
Subject: Kisan Drones
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Manickam Tagore B, Manne Srinivas Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE&FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 276

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  MARCH 2022

## KISAN DRONES

*276. SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B.:

SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a)        whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Government  has  installed  100 kisan  drones  in  different parts of the country for spraying pesticides and other farm materials and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)    whether it is also true that the Government is considering to deploy more number of drones for the agricultural sector;
- (c)        whether  it  is  also  true  that  the  Government  is  contemplating  for  the  deployment  of many such technologies in the agricultural sector in the coming days and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)   whether it is also true that a new culture of drone start-ups is getting ready which is leading  to  the  generation  of  new  employment  opportunities  on  a  massive  scale  and  the Government will ensure that there is no impediment in the sector's development and has already undertaken several reforms and policy measures to facilitate its rise; and
- (e)   if so, the details thereof and the progress made so far, State-wise specially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR) (a) to (e):    A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 276 DUE FOR REPLY ON 22 ND  MARCH 2022.

(a) to (e): Drones  were  used  for  the  first  time  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW)in 2020-21 for desert locust control. To promote the use of drone  technology  in  the  country  the  Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation  notified  the  liberalized Drone Rules, 2021.  The DA&FW released the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for  use  of  drones  in  agriculture  for  pesticide  and  nutrient  application,  which  provide concise instructions for effective and safe operations of agricultural drones. In the Union Budget 2022-23, the Government has also announced that the use of Kisan Drones will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.

To promote use of drones in agriculture and make drone technology affordable to the farmers and other stakeholders of this sector, financial assistance @ 100 % cost of drone  together  with  the  contingent  expenditure  is  extended  under  Sub-Mission  on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) to the Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes, Institutions of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and State  Agricultural  Universities  (SAUs)  for  its  demonstration  on  the  farmer's  fields. Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) are provided grants @ 75% for purchase of drones  for  its  demonstration  on  the  farmers'  fields.    In  order  to  provide  agricultural services  through  drone  application,  financial  assistance  @  40%  of  the  basic  cost  of drone  and  its  attachments  or  Rs.4  lakhs,  whichever  less  is  also  provided  for  drone purchase  by  existing  and  new  Custom  Hiring  Centers  (CHCs)  under  Cooperative Society of Farmers, Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Rural entrepreneurs. The agriculture graduates establishing CHCs are eligible to receive financial assistance @ 50% of the cost of drone up to a maximum Rs.5.00 lakhs.

The Government of India supports and facilitates the State Governments through various  Centrally  Sponsored  and  Central  Sector  Schemes  to  promote  agriculture throughout  the  country  and  infusing  new  technologies  into  the  agriculture  sector including  agricultural  drones.  National  e-Governance  Plan  in  Agriculture  (NeGP-A)  is being  implemented  and  funds  are  released  for  sanctioning  projects  involving  use  of modern  Information  Technologies  such  as  Artificial  Intelligence  &  Machine  Learning, Block  Chain  Technology,  Internet  of  Things,  Robotics  etc.,  and  for  customization  / shifting of web & mobile applications already developed by the States, to the platform to be  developed  using  digital/emerging  technologies.  The  details  of  projects  for  use  of modern technology sanctioned under NeGP-A during 2020-21 and 2021-22are given in Annexure-I.

The  drone  deployment  in  the  agriculture  sector  of  the  country  is  new  and  the country  is  gaining  experience  in  this  sector  including  building  up  of  the  start-up ecosystem  in  different  States.      To  provide  impetus  to  start  ups  for  agriculture,  a component  called  'Innovation  and  Agri-Entrepreneurship  Development'  has  been launched under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) in 2018-19 with the objective  of  promoting  innovation  and  agri-entrepreneurship  by  providing  financial support  and  nurturing  the  incubation  ecosystem.  Under  this  programme,  start-ups including for drones  are encouraged  to  use innovative technologies to resolve challenges faced in agriculture and allied sectors.

## Projects sanctioned under NeGP-A during 2020-21 for the project for use of modern technology:

| S.No.   | State/UT                                                             | Technology                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Amount       |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
| (i)     | Arunachal Pradesh                                                    | ResilientSupplyChainforidentifiedAgricultural CropsLeveragingDigitization                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | Rs.81 Lakh   |
| (ii)    | Bihar                                                                | Digital Package of Practices for Major Crops and Automation Technique in Irrigation in State Seed Multiplication Farms                                                                                                                                                                                | Rs.354 Lakh  |
| (iii)   | Meghalaya                                                            | Development of web and mobile based" Crop Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | Rs.63 Lakh   |
| (iv)    | Uttar Pradesh                                                        | (i)Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Agriculture Applications, (ii) Hand Held Tool based Soil Health Monitoring Integrated system and (iii) Automated Fire Alert System for Crop Residue Burning in U.P.                                                                                                    | Rs.121 Lakh  |
| (v)     | Telangana                                                            | (i)Crop Monitoring (ii)Automated irrigation Systems(iii) Fertilizer Calculation (iv)Automated Farm Operation(v)Trace ability from seeds to produce and (vi) Produce Grading and Quality Assaying                                                                                                      | Rs.186 Lakh  |
| (vi)    | Odisha                                                               | Creation of Farmer Database                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | Rs.178 Lakh  |
| (vii)   | Punjab                                                               | (i)Development of Crop and Soil Digital Algorithms for Crop Growth Monitoring, Crop Yield and Soil Quality at Farm Level using Remote Sensing, GIS and Machine Learning Techniques and(ii)Precision irrigation in major cropping systems of Punjab using artificial intelligence and sub-surface drip | Rs.52 Lakh   |
| (viii)  | Assam                                                                | e-project on ML based Crop Health Check up for paddy crops.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | Rs.134 Lakh  |
| (ix)    | Andhra Pradesh                                                       | Gap Analysis & proposed solution to overcome the gaps in existing system in terms of integration digital transformation & seamless process flow                                                                                                                                                       | Rs.426 Lakh  |
| (x)     | Madhya Pradesh(i)Precision Farming and (ii)Ground water Availability | Madhya Pradesh(i)Precision Farming and (ii)Ground water Availability                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | Rs. 161 Lakh |

## Projects sanctioned under NeGP-A during 2021-22 for the project for use of modern technology:

|   Sr. No. | Proposal Received from State   | Name of Project                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |   Amount Sanctioned as Central Share (Rs. in Lakh) |   First Installment released during 2021- 22 (Rs. in Lakh) |
|-----------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Sikkim                         | Sikkim Agriculture Resource and Management System (ARMS)                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |                                             250.5  |                                                      62.62 |
|         2 | Uttarakhand                    | 1.computerize reporting of Agricultural Statistics Land Use Statistics and Area under different crops right from village level to State level 2. A for designing, development, installation and commissioning of the smart agriculture platform using GIS, Remote Sensing, AI and IoT |                                             227.56 |                                                      56.89 |
|         3 | Nagaland                       | Soil & Water Resource Management, Meteorological Analysis & Forecasting System using Remote Sensing, GIS mapping, Drone and Emerging Technologies under NeGPA.                                                                                                                        |                                            1097    |                                                     274.25 |
|         4 | Meghalaya                      | Regarding farmers database                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |                                              33.06 |                                                       8.26 |
|         5 | Tamil Nadu                     | creation of Unified Farmers Database and building layers or solutions over the Farmers Database                                                                                                                                                                                       |                                             257.25 |                                                      64.29 |
|         6 | Arunachal Pradesh              | 1.Developing a resilient Agriculture /Farm Produce Supply Chain System Leveraging Digitalization in Arunachal Pradesh 2. Development of Smart Pest Surveillance System cum Geo Spatial aided Agricultural Information System                                                          |                                             270    |                                                      67.5  |
|         7 | Mizoram                        | Geospatial Analytics & Decision Support for agriculture Development in Mizoram                                                                                                                                                                                                        |                                             122.28 |                                                      30.58 |
|         8 | Odisha                         | For the phase-II of Krushak data base (Odisha Farmers' Database                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |                                             165.05 |                                                      41.26 |

****