KISAN DRONES

TOPIC: Science & Tech

Context- PM Modi has flagged off 100 “kisan drones” in different parts of the country for spraying pesticides and other farm materials.

Concept-

Drones will also be promoted for crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
Farmers can use high–capacity drones in the coming times to transport their produce like fruits, vegetables and flowers to markets in a minimal time, boosting their income.

Drone Shakti Scheme:

The Union Budget pushed for promotion of drones through startups and skilling at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
Startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS). Courses for skilling will also be started in selected ITIs across all States.
Sectors where drones can be employed include photography, agriculture, mining, telecom, insurance, telecom, oil & gas, construction, transport, disaster management, geo-spatial mapping, forest and wildlife, defence and law enforcement to name a few.

Drone:

It is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA).
A drone’s autonomy level can range from remotely piloted (a human controls its movements) to advanced autonomy, which means that it relies on a system of sensors and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) detectors to calculate its movement.