Anna University developing high-tech drones to improve crop yield

Tamil Nadu farmers will soon be able to enhance their produce and reduce expenses on pesticides as they will be doing precision farming using drones.  

Anna University’s Centre for Aerospace Research (CASR), which is working on mapping farmlands to help farmers increase yield, is likely submit the final project report to the Tamil Nadu Drone Corporation.  

Real-time footage of fields to detect infestations 

CASR officials said they are using high-tech aerial surveying drones equipped with advanced multispectral sensors to accumulate data on basis of chlorophyll content in the crop. Real-time imagery of the fields with the help of high-resolution multispectral cameras will identify diseases or other stress on crops.  

Mapping to reduce overdose of pesticide application 

“Using this data, farmers can spray pesticides only on the affected areas in the initial phase instead of spraying it on the entire field. The mapping will help farmers in better monitoring of crop health, controlled spraying of pesticide and improved yield. With precision farming, they can minimise expense on pesticides to a great extent," said Senthil Kumar, director of CASR.  

Project nearing completion 

He said the project is in its final phase and they have carried out mapping of varieties of crops in various districts. "We will submit project report and findings to the Drone Corporation, which will then chalk out measures for its implementation," Senthil said. 

CASR officials said the Centre is funding the use of drones in agriculture. “The collected data will be processed in lab and then the information will be fed into drones for aerial spraying of pesticides. Our aim is to develop a drone that can do mapping, data analysis and pesticide spraying in one go," Senthil added. 

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