14th August, 2023 will be marked as a historical day for Syngenta India as we celebrate Har Khet Mein Drone, Incipio ke Sang!

We are officially on our last day in Karnataka. This was going to be the end of our Drone Yatra, but no! We have a surprise for you. We will be heading to MH2 once again to cover the Vidarbha section. So you should stay tuned, as the Drone Yatra is not going to be over just yet. Welcome to Day 6 in Karnataka. We are in Sindhnur today for the drone demonstration.When we began our interaction with the farmers after the demonstration, the farmers were curious to know how is it that only 10 litres of spray is equally effective as 200 litres of spray. We explained to them the concept of how the drone sprays versus how when they manually spray. The wastage factor is reduced to a bare minimum with drones which is on a higher side with manual sprays. Moreover, the spray from drones is more concentrated, making it much more effective even in smaller quantities.The farmers were also interesting in acquiring drones and were curious about the subsidies. We provided them the information, but also explained how with…

Drones come under the Ministry of Aviation and Defense, making it a challenge to create bigger drones, since the governing body has put in some restrictions on the drones to be made for farming purposes. Which is why the drones are made with smaller tanks since it makes them efficient, as well as lighter to maneuver. Welcome to Day 5 in Karnataka. Today we are in Gangavathi region for the drone demonstration.We successfully completed the demonstration on a paddy field which was attended by a few KVK scientists and our Syngenta distributor network. Post that our interaction with the farmers began. Their major concerns were how to use the products in the drones and also how can they identify duplicity in the products available in the market. Syngenta has ensured duplicity is controlled by providing a Product Scan feature in the Cropwise Grower application.In the application, farmers can scan the QR on the product label and check the details of the product. This will help them ensure the products they have are…

Drones have varied applications in the field. From spraying to monitoring and detection, the applications can be galore, but it is still time for the technology to be full-proof and its accuracy high. A lot of drone companies are already working on it, and once it is launched, farmers can make use of it. Welcome to Day 4 in Karnataka. We are in Kawaloor today for the drone demonstration.Today we met up with a bunch of tech-savvy farmers who were looking for more from their drones. After our demonstration, when the Q&A session began, the farmers quickly put up the question to us, if they can monitor their cattle in the field using the drones. We did suggest them that instead of drones, wide-angle CCTV cameras at certain locations will help them better since using a drone will require a continuous moving pilot along with as well. Moreover, drones have limitations in terms of battery power, which is hamper continuous coverage of the cattle.This actually is an interesting application though; CCTV monitoring…

A thing about drones is that they need a support team for optimum functioning. This includes a pilot, a co-pilot and a maintenance person. This effectively translates to increased opportunities for skilled workers. Something farmers in the next region were asking for. Welcome to Day 3 in Karnataka. We are in Salakatti for our drone demonstration for the day.Post a successful demonstration in a paddy field which was attended by many farmers as well as Syngenta’s distributor and retailer network, our interaction with the farmers started. We provided the farmers with a brief of about how drones will help alleviate the challenges of the farmers in terms of time consumption, labor requirements and so on for spraying. Interestingly, the farmers were concerned about the unemployment that may increase because of the drones.They were interested in knowing if the local village boys can be trained to fly the drones so that they will have an employment opportunity. We assured them that Syngenta is working with their…

Drones’ propellers rotate at a very high speed, the wind speeds being substantially high to ensure the drone can fly. Hence, it is always a cause of worry for farmers to use drones, especially during the flowering stage, as the flowers of the crops could be damaged and the yield reduced significantly. Welcome to the Drone yatra of the south. Today we are in Namma Bengaluru in Karnataka. Well, not in the main city and IT hub, but on the outskirts in Kadadenahalli and Marimakalapalli regions for the drone demonstration.We started our first demonstration in Kadadenahalli on a tomato field. We completed a successful demonstration and then started resolving some of the farmer queries. The farmers were very inquisitive about if the drone can spray the tomato crop during the flowering stage safely. They were excited seeing the results that the drone spray did not damage a single healthy flower and now the farmers were excited for a whole new reason, to know when the spray service will be available to them. We…

Oh, what a journey it has been till now! We are in Karnataka, the state famous for its IT Hub in India as well as the city of lakes, Bengaluru. It is one of the busy states overall and ranks among the top states in terms of modern development and industrialization. But, it is also a state filled with farmers. Rice is a major crop in Karnataka, followed by maize and other cash crops such as cotton and pulses. Sugarcane and spices also account for a major chunk of the state’s agricultural output.Today we are in Talakatu and Uppanahalli in Mysuru region of Karnataka. Our first destination is Talakatu where a large number of farmers and our distributor network was in presence for the demonstration. We completed the demonstration here and interacted with the farmers, to capture their views of the drone and clear their queries.An interesting point came to the fore about powder products. Spraying powdery molecules mixed in water is a possibility, yes, but there is always a chance that the powder might not be…

Well, why not! Sounds pretty simple right? Just fly the drone over the tree and that is that. But if only it was that easy. These are just some of the interesting questions we deal with on our drone demonstration. Our journey continues as we have reached our final day in Tamil Nadu before we head into Karnataka.Welcome to Day 4 in Tamil Nadu. The demonstration for the day is in a sugarcane field in Gobichettipalayam. It was a scenic farm with some coconut trees surrounding it. After the demonstration, we started our Q&A session with the farmers where we encountered some very interesting questions.The farmers wanted to know if the drone would work on a banana field. Since banana fields are difficult to reach on the inside when they grow to full length, getting control of the pests can be a challenge for farmers. It is a very powerful use case for drones. They also wanted to know if drones can cover 50 acres of land. Yes, multiple drones deployed at the same time can handle the task with ease.The next…

No one can claim that drone technology for agricultural use has been perfected yet. It is effective still with whatever limitations it has. This is a fact that we accept and are very transparent with because whatever is, is visible during the demonstrations.Welcome to Day 3 in Tamil Nadu. We are on Drone Yatra Day 51 and in Sattur region for a demonstration. Today’s farmers were an interesting lot because they were being very technical in their questions, which although was challenging, was also good because we know that they understand the functioning of the drones.One of the main questions that came up post the demonstration was the drone’s coverage. Since the particle size is very small, they were unable to understand how the entire plant was covered. We then proceeded with a tissue test to show how the tissue, even when placed under the plant was covered in the drone’s spray, is when they were satisfied.The farmers also wanted to know the kind of hurdles that can be encountered during spraying. We…

Half a century on the road, giving drone demonstrations and trying to bring a change is a major milestone to achieve. We might have covered over 100 demonstrations as well by now since we have had a lot of double headers and triple headers too in our journey. What started off as a 10,000 kms journey from Maharashtra, we have already surpassed the target and covered close to 15,000 kms by now.But, the journey is not over yet, and here we are in Tanjaur for Day 2 in Tamil Nadu. Our destination today is a paddy field in Tanjaur where we were received by some big farmers in the region. These large holder farmers were particularly interested in getting to know how the drone performed and how they could procure the drones. Having a large piece of land, it is difficult for them to manage the amount of labor needed for a short span to cover the entire field in a single go.After a successful demonstration, the number of questions also increased about if multiple drones can be deployed at a time to finish the task…

Drones are probably the next best thing in farming, solving multiple problems with a single solution. Gone are the days for farmers when they had to spend thousands in labor and days on end to get the spraying done to protect their crop. We are glad to be part of the solution, bringing the change to farmers, making it accessible for all of them.Welcome to Day in Tamil Nadu. Yes, we have covered Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the Yatra of the South and are in Tamil Nadu. Our visit today is in Thiruvallur where we are conducting two demonstration. First farm of the day is a paddy field where we completed the demonstration successfully and took up farmer queries. Major ones included about the subsidy the government is giving on procuring drones.We then moved on to our next location where also the farmers were interested in knowing the price of the drones. Drones are pricey and it is not practical for a farmer to buy one for himself, considering the overheads are substantially high. It is always a better idea…

Drones are costly, and it is not possible or feasible for a regular farmer to invest in a drone, unless he/she has maybe 25 acres or more of land. In that case, the only way to go about which is also cost efficient is to use drones via a service provider. Though the Government of India have declared certain subsidies for farmers, it is still not recommended for small landholders to invest in a drone.Welcome to Day 4 in Telangana. Today we are in Nandiyal for our drone demonstration in a paddy field. In attendance are the entire local government body which includes the MP of the region, Mr. Brahmanand Reddy, Additional Director, ADA, Agriculture Officer, Gram Panchayat Sarpanch, and their entire team of bureaucreats. We love it when the local government bodies are involved, provides meaning and a way of authenticity for the farmers too to trust it since it is being backed by the system.We had a successful demonstration post which we took some questions for the farmers. They were all thinking about the subsidy…