‘Kisan drone’ to be ready for commercial use soon; it will help in various farm operations 

‘Kisan drone’ to be ready for commercial use soon; it will help in various farm operations 

The “kisan drone” developed by the Atul Incubation Centre-Pondicherry Engineering College Foundation (AIC-PECF) is undergoing test runs on nearby farmland, and is expected to be ready for commercial applications shortly.

The AIC kisan drone model, with a 15-litre payload and an average 30-minute flight time capacity, is typically intended for spraying needs on small-to-medium-sized land holdings. For LIDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing and mapping of large land holdings, other types of drones are used.

“While commercialisation may have to go through several phases, we hope to use the model to disseminate awareness on usefulness of the kisan drones among farmers, impart training and facilitate better designs,” said V. Vishnu Varadan, CEO, AIC-PECF.

He said at present, pilot flight runs were being carried out on nearby farmland to evaluate feasibility. “Once the pilot data is consolidated, we will be ready with a Go-To Market strategy and move towards commercialisation on a large scale.”

Nevar Systems, an AIC manufacturing design and R&D start-up, has been engaged to run the pilot phase for feasibility evaluation with its existing clientele.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is under process with the newly launched agricultural division of the Manakula Vinayakar Engineering College, with the institution looking at trialling the kisan drone on a 40-acre farmland.