The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is keen on deploying sensors and drones in farms, to start with, for assessing the quality of soil as well as crop losses after floods.
Highlighting the role drones could play in estimating the damage, Director General of ICAR T. Mohapatra said the devices would help speed up the analysis. At present, unless large areas get affected farmers do not get compensation, he added.
“We are developing drone-based technology, using new sensors to understand and assess crop losses,” he said, adding the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, a premier ICAR institution in Delhi, in association with a few other agencies, including ISRO and IIT-Delhi, is working in this area.
Dr. Mohapatra, who is Secretary to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, said this in an interaction with presspersons during a visit to the Indian Institute of Millets Research here on Saturday.
