Union Road Infra Minister Nitin Gadkari and MSME Minister Narayan Rane visits Agrovision 2021 in Nagpur

The Agrovision exhibition was held in Nagpur from 24th to 27th December, 2021 which was attended by Union minister Nitin Gadkari who is also chief patron of the event, Union MSME minister Narayan Rane and Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Addressing the closing ceremony Minister Gadkari said, use of drones in the farm sector can generate about 50 lakh jobs in the vast rural segment in one year alone.

Discussing the various opportunities in the agriculture sector with MSME Minister and Agriculture Minister, Minister Gadkari said, “We need to work on preparing a policy on (use of) drones in the farm sector. Drone is related with agro and MSME, and drones alone can generate about 50 lakh jobs in the rural sector in one year. Besides, it will benefit farmers too.”

He said a drone, powered by lithium-ion battery, would cost around INR 6 lakh, while the same unmanned aerial vehicle with flex engine and run on ethanol fuel, would come at much cheaper price of around INR 1.5 lakh.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister said spraying of pesticides from drones will need 'pilots' for operating them and this will open up huge job prospects.

A set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the use of drones in the farm sector, including for spraying pesticides as well as other soil and crop nutrients was released last week.