Drone will improve ease of farming: MP Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel

• Drone will improve ease of farming: MP Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel

• Syngenta India’s ‘Drone Yatra’ reaches Madhya Pradesh

• Syngenta India kicked off 10,000 km Drone Yatra starting from Pune Maharashtra to educate farmers on drone spraying across 13 states

Harda: The use of drones will significantly improve the ease of farming and Madhya Pradesh Government is making concerted efforts for multifaceted use of drone technology – right from spraying of fertilizer to monitoring development and welfare projects – said the state’s Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister Shri Kamal Patel on Friday, on Syngenta’s Drone Yatra arrival in MP.

Demonstration of spraying with drone was given to more than 300 farmers in Harda on soybean farm to make them aware of this breakthrough technology.

In a first-of-its kind initiative, Syngenta India had flagged off a Drone Yatra on July 15 from its Pune headquarters. It is scheduled to travel 10,000 kms, across 13 states to create awareness on drone spraying among 10,000 farmers. Syngenta is among the first few private players to get Central Government’s permission to use drones.

“Digitally driven agriculture is becoming the need of the hour. There is a huge scope for the use of multiple applications in drone in farming in our State, which ranks first in the country in the production of soybean, gram, urad, tur, masoor, linseed,” said Shri Patel while speaking as the Chief Guest at a function held at his village Baranga under Khirkiya Taluk to mark the arrival of ‘Syngenta Drone Yatra.’

“Now we can see the benefits of latest technology in our fields and can experience the same with global pace and this drone technology would not only provide the employment to youths but also solve the paucity of labour and help in saving soil and environment as well, thanks to Syngenta to make this happen. This would also help in fulfilling the commitment of our honourable PM Sri Narendra Singh Modi to double the income of the growers”, Shri Patel added.

“It’s so encouraging to see that Madhya Pradesh has not only shown interest but has also put in place a roadmap to drive agriculture technologically, which will make farming cost-effective and enhance farmers’ incomes. Technology like drones will increase yield, profitability, and sustainability of farming,” said Dr KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India.

In the past 15 years, agriculture in Madhya Pradesh has shown significant improvement in crop output. The state ranks second in the production of maize, sesame, ramtil, moong etc and holds the third position in the production of wheat, sorghum, barley. In the Rabi season, wheat, gram, peas, lentils, mustard, sugarcane and linseed are sown in abundance across the state.

“Through innovative interventions, we will enable farmers to increase yields while adding resilience to environmental sustainability,” said Dr Ravi.

Key members from government and Syngenta were present at the demo including Durga Das Uikey, Member of Parliament, Harda; Sri Sanjay Shah, MLA, Harda, Sri Gajendra Shah, Chairman, ZilaPanchyat, Harda; Mr Namit Tiwari, Divisional Manager, Central- Crop Protection; Mr Pankaj Chug, Divisional Marketing Lead -Central; Mr MilindBedekar, Technical Support Lead; Mr GajrajRathode, Business Manager, Nimar; Mr Sautbh Trivedi, FCE Team and Mr KS Narayanan, Sr Consultant, Business Sustainabilityamong others.