Drone project

Drone Demonstration


Drone demo	Live demo

India is an Agricultural based country, Majority of people depends on agriculture for their livelihood, with the increasing population we have to increase our productivity. At the same time farming sector is facing several challenges including labour problems, high cost, pest and diseases, so UAVs(Unmanned aerial vehicles) popularly known as Drones as been introduced in various operations in spraying pesticides and nutrients.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has accorded approval for project on “Empowering Farmers through Drone System for Precision Agriculture in Cuddalore District” under Farm sector Promotion Fund to be implemented through KVK, Cuddalore.

Name of the Project	:	Empowering Farmers through Drone System for Precision Agriculture in Cuddalore District
Location of the Project	:	KVK, Vriddhachalam
Phasing of the Project	:	Phase I
Date of Starting of the Project	:	06.01.2022
Duration	:	Two years (2021-22 and 2022-2023)

Objectives :

To develop expertise in the field of drone technology.
To promote the drone spraying system among farmers through method demonstrations and trainings.
To encourage the farmers to form enterprises and facilitate the adoption of drone technology through hiring of drone.

To minimize the cost on labour and agrochemical sprays (pesticides/herbicide/nutrient solution).

Expected Outputs :

Training on drone spraying will be given to the extension personnel at KVK. He will act as the resource person for the subsequent trainings and demonstrations.
The training of drone system will be given to selected participatory farmers from different blocks of Cuddalore district. They will motivate other farmers on drone spraying.
Live drone spraying demonstrations will be carried out in farmers’ fields on different crops namely rice, maize, cotton, groundnut, tapioca, sugarcane, groundnut and cashew.
At least 180 farmers will be trained on importance of drone technologies representing every block of the Cuddalore district.

Expected Outcomes :

Minimizing the health hazards to agriculture labourers.
Reduction in pesticide residues in harvested produce.
Reduction of cost on pesticide usage by at least 30%.
Reduction in water consumption by 90%.
Large area coverage in very shorter time (minimum 50 acres/day).
Synchronised and timely action for pest and disease management.
Increasing the farm income through reduction in cost of cultivation.

Overall impacts

The quantitative impacts of the project would be the reduction of input costs, labour saving, increased yield and doubling of farmers’ income.

Activities Taken up by KVK, Vriddhachalam.

Drone was purchased from Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Corporation (TNUVAC).

Famers and stakeholder meet and Demo on Drone mobilized in KVK, Vriddhachalam on 18.04.2022 to sensitize the farming community to overcome the various constraints in the agriculture, this is an economical way to reduce the cost of cultivation. Th. T. Venkatakrishna, Chief General manager, NABARD said there was an ample scope for drone usage in Indian agriculture and several FPOs participated in this programme and Th. M. Vijay Neehar, District Development Manager, NABARD, Cuddalore district elaborated on their role in implementing the project and its significance on crop production. Dr.N.sriram, Programme Coordinator and KVK team identified the pesticide, herbicide and nutrients concentration, their volume for the crops. Field trials were conducted to promote the demonstration. The drone costing Rs14.5 lakh was launched. The capacity of drone to carry up to 10 litres of pesticide and cover 30 acres per day. KVK conducted trials to 14 blocks in Cuddalore district. About 90 farmers from (NAF) National agro foundation and FPOs participated in this programme.

Activity photos


Inauguration of Demonstration cum Training on Drone in Agricultural Activities at KVK, Instructional farm on 18.04.2022	Booklet on Drone also released during the programme

KVK Vridhachalam, Cuddalore has purchased Krishi Drone for demonstration & custom hiring purpose with support of NABARD. The first drone demonstration cum inaugural programme was conducted in the presence of Chief General Manager, NABARD, RO, Chennai (18.04.2022)

Neem based pesticide was sprayed to gingelly field using Drone Spray

Press news published


Paper news on Inauguration of Demonstration cum Training on Drone in Agricultural Activities at KVK, Instructional farm on 18.04.2022

Demonstration of Drone during Kisan Mela – (farmers day) on 26.04.2022 at KVK, Vriddhachalam.

Live drone spraying demonstration was arranged to popularize the technology among farmers. About 516 participants including farmers, young entrepreneurs, farm women and press reporters have participated in the event and benefitted.


Drone demonstration during Kisan Mela – (farmers day) (26.04.2022)

Paper news on Drone demonstration during the Kisan Mela – (farmers day) on 26.04.2022