Day 37: Hardoi – The Sugar Mill Party on the Field

Sugarcane being a major crop in Uttar Pradesh (UP) it is no surprise that a lot of demonstrations we do are on Sugarcane farms. It is also no surprise that a lot of Sugar mill owners also sometimes visit the demonstrations to see the drones in action since they are very widely connected to the sugarcane growers in the region.

Welcome to Day 5 and the last day in UP. This is our final stop here before we move to West Bengal and start our demonstrations there. Today’s demonstrations are going to be in the Hardoi region in sugarcane and paddy fields. We first made our way to Belhari village in Hardoi region for our first demonstration in a sugarcane field. Among many farmers, a team from the nearby sugarcane factory, including their General Manager were in presence for the demonstration.

We began our briefing and then the demonstration, followed by a quick Q&A. The sugar mill team was curious to understand how the drone would work on sugarcane as it becomes difficult for farmers to access the interior parts of the field once the sugarcane reaches a certain height and it becomes difficult to control the pests in the crop.

After a successful demonstration, we moved to another village in the Hardoi region for a demonstration on a paddy field. We completed the demonstration and then during the Q&A, an interesting question popped about the mixture of molecules. Many a times, farmers mix multiple products while spraying to get control over multiple pests. They wanted to understand if the same would be possible when spraying through a drone. The experts helped them understand if it was possible and then we closed for the day.

This was all from us in UP. We now move to West Bengal for the next leg of our Drone Yatra. Stay tuned!