Obtain the data you need to make the most informed decisions by accessing our extensive portfolio of information, analytics, and expertise. Sign in to the product or service center of your choice.
India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare has issued
an interim two-year approval for drone-based spraying of almost all
pesticides registered in the country. The decision was communicated
through a memorandum and follows the country releasing a standard
operating procedure (SOP) involving the use of drones for the
application of pesticides in agriculture, forestry and non-cropped
areas late last year.The approval has been effective from April
18th.
The Ministry notes that the pesticides cleared for drone-based
spraying have undergone safety and efficacy evaluations and are
already being applied by growers using other methods. They include
insecticides, fungicides, plant growth regulators (PGRs),
biopesticides and botanical pesticides. The list includes 479
formualtions containing single active ingredient as well as
combination products.
Registrants seeking to undertake such operations are required to
communicate details of the products, dosage, intended crops, and
plan for data generation to India's Central Insecticide Board and
Registration Committee (CIB&RC). To continue using drones
beyond the two-year interim approval, they are required to generate
data supporting their application during that period and get such
data approved by the CIB&RC.
Stepping stones
While the civilian use of drones in India is regulated under a
strict set of guidelines, the idea of using drones in agriculture
had gained traction over the past couple of years with the domestic
agrochemical industry urging the government to design a policy. As
a first step in the direction, India conditionally allowed the
deployment of drones to tackle an unprecedented infestation of
desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) in 2020. A preliminary
framework was believed to be in the offing when in November that
year India-based research centre, International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT - Hyderabad), was
granted "conditional exemption" for six months to conduct
agricultural research using drones.
This was followed by the country's Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers' Welfare getting permission from the Indian civil aviation
watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in
February 2021 to use drones for capturing images of rice and wheat
fields in 100 districts for insurance surveys. The biggest impetus
came with the government initiating a dialogue with stakeholders in
June last year following the publication of a consultation paper on
the country's national digital agriculture ecosystem, dubbed the
IDEA (India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture).
In the run-up to the SOP being published, Chennai-based drone
manufacturer Garuda Aerospace revealed plans to manufacture 1,000
drones for use in the country's agriculture sector. The company
delivered the first batch of 100 drones in February this year.
Our new offering
S&P Global Commodity Insights's Crop Science Market
Reporting has launched a data tool that tracks all
business activities such as mergers and acquisitions, company deals
and investments in the digital/precision agriculture sectors. The
tool is an expansion of our combined offering that covered business
activity in crop protection, agricultural biotechnology, and
digital agriculture.
This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.
