NASHIK: A Nashik-based start-up on Saturday launched an indigenously developed software for drones to be used in agriculture sector for spraying of insecticides.
The software, AeroGCS Green, developed by Passenger Drone Research Private Limited, helps farmers to map entire field and lanes, where spraying needs not be done, specify the quantity of pesticides to be sprayed etc., thus helping in cost-effective spraying that can be accomplished in minutes as against hours required for activity.
Claiming that the software developed by the 55-member team is one of the first to comply with the safety norms laid down by Drone Rules 2022, the company’s chief executive officer, Anil Chandaliya, said, “Our USP is customer-oriented approach, user-friendly interfaces and workflow that helps in appropriate spraying and saving cost.” Thechief executive officer said that with the use of the software, farmers could precisely decide on the amount of pesticide to be spread on crops, which would ensure that farmers or labourers are nowhere in the danger zone of pesticides.
“Ours is a completely indigenous software, which also allows mapping of islands (wells, pump houses, etc) where spraying should not be done or trees, power lines that need to be avoided,” the CEO added.
As many as seven drone manufacturers have started using the product, 40 more companies are now taking the licenced software, while 70 others are negotiating for licenced software.
Nileema Pawar, former secretary of Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj, who launched the software, said that it would find good support from local farmers.
“The farmers in Nashik like to experiment, and also do a lot of research. They will adapt to the new technology,” said Pawar. The drone spraying system makes use of GPS coordinates to spraypesticides on the infected areas in real-time as soon as the camera takes a picture of the spraying area. Drone crop spraying is becoming increasingly popular among farmers as it is more efficient and precise than traditional methods, such as manually spraying of crops.
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