ICAR-NRRI granted with DGCA permission for pesticide spraying using Drone
ICAR-NRRI being a pioneer institute in rice research will be conducting research experiments on pesticide spraying using Drone. In this regard, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday (27.08.2021) approved the Standard Operating Procedure submitted by ICAR-NRRI and General Aeronautics Private Limited, Bengaluru for pesticide spraying on rice crop using Drone technology. Permission is valid for one year from the date of approval. Before this, the Ministry of Civil Aviation accorded (on 21 June 2021) conditional exemption from Unammned Aircraft System (UAS) rules, 2021 to NRRI, Cuttack for research and development. In September 2021, a team of scientists consisting of Dr. Basana Gowda G, Dr. Totan Adak and Dr. Raghu S will be taking up the research trial jointly with General Aeronautics Private Limited, Bengaluru. Scientists think that pesticide spraying operation in the rice crop is most tedious compared to other crops. The use of drones can be advantageous in the case of pesticide spraying, replacing labor-intensive and hazardous conventional methods particularly in crops like rice. The team will work on standardizing different aspects of pesticide spraying using the Drone and will come up with a standard operating prescription for pesticide spraying in rice.
