Farming with drones and AI-based tools to increase yield

Drones, smart devices for precision-farming and pest identification apps are some of the commonly-used agritech interventions that help Indian farmers during the period of crop growth.
Tech-savvy farmers in Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana are embracing agritech solutions for climate resilient agriculture, manage pests and in turn, increase their profits.
To leverage the agritech solutions and enable access to technology for more farmers, experts call for a digital agricultural framework and knowledge sharing among stakeholders.

This story is Part 2 of a three-part series about the advances in agricultural technology in India. It discusses the commonly used agricultural technologies in the crop growth stage. Part 1 and Part 3 throw light on the technologies in use in the pre-sowing stage and the post-harvest stage.

Drone pilot Ajith Babu reaches the paddy field owned by Kerala Agro Machinery Corporation Ltd. (KAMCO) at Athani, in Kerala, early in the morning. He brings along with him an agriculture drone and its controller. After completing the GPS calibration process, which helps align the drone’s sensors and controller with the actual shape and physical conditions of this paddy field, Babu pours biofertiliser into a 10-litre tank mounted on the drone. He then plots the area on his controller where the drone needs to fly and monitors the machine as it takes to the sky.

The drone traces the whole plot in a ruler-lined fashion, precision-spraying the biofertiliser over the paddy crop. Biofertilisers are derived from microorganisms and they increase plant nutrition and promote growth. The birds in the paddy field have accepted the noise from the drone propellers without demur but avoid its flight path. Before noon, Babu completes spraying the whole field. He lands the drone and starts packing up.

“This entire area (six-acre farm) can be covered in two-three hours with the drone, whereas it used to take us three-four days to spray the fields manually with the help of labourers,” shares Manoj Mathew, farmer and staff at KAMCO who admits that drones have reduced his labour cost. “With respect to water, while spraying pesticides manually, I would need 50 litres of water for one acre. Now, while using drones, with 20 litres of water, two acres can be covered,” he continues.

The drone revolution

Using drones for fertiliser spraying, is now a no-brainer agritech solution for many Indian farmers. In recent years, state governments, startups and educational institutions across the country have started offering rental schemes and training programmes for farmers to use agriculture drones for pesticide spraying. The central government has also announced subsidies for farmers who wish to purchase agri drones.

Babu works with the agritech startup Fuselage Innovations, based in Kochi. Apart from paddy fields, he has worked in pineapple fields, cashew and tea plantations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The startup founder Devan Chandrashekaran tells Mongabay-India, “For plants there is a certain microsize through which they can absorb the biofertilisers. In our drones, we designed the nozzles for the spraying application based on the absorption rate of the plant. This helps in precision-spraying, thereby reducing the quantity of resources (water, pesticides) needed.”

Several studies have highlighted the impact of global warming on agricultural pests and insects. It is one of the biggest challenges for farmers during the crop growth stage. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that plant pests and diseases account for 20-40% of global crop loss each year. Therefore, at a time of increasing food demand, it becomes important for farmers to identify pests early and do a spot application/precise spraying of pesticides or micronutrients to avoid agricultural losses due to pests.

An employee of Fuselage assembling 'FIA QD10' - a precision spraying agricultural drone inside the company's R&D Lab at Kochi, Kerala. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay. — An employee of Fuselage assembling a precision spraying agricultural drone inside the company’s R&D Lab at Kochi, Kerala. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

“Initially, the farmers thought it was risky to use drones. Then, we validated our technology. It promises 30-35% yield increase and they see up to 70% of reduction in resource (water and fertiliser) consumption. In the south, there is also a labour shortage. So, they (the farmers) started adopting this technology,” shares Chandrashekaran, who is looking at international collaborations in the coming years.

While agricultural drones with specialised cameras are available for soil monitoring, vegetation management and disease identification, drones for crop spraying are more widely adopted by Indian farmers because they save labour costs, resources and time.

There’s another technology that saves farmers’ time by leaving no space for guesswork and empowering them with data – data about the weather, wind speed and direction, humidity, leaf wetness, soil moisture and more – all on a smartphone.

An agriculture drone by Fuselage hovers over a paddy field. The drone uses precision-spraying technology to spray biofertilisers. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

Smart farming with IoT devices

More than 500 kilometres from Athani, in Karnataka’s H-Cross Village in Chikbalapur district, farmer Ranjith who cultivates pomegranates on a 10-acre farm, has ditched the conventional methods of irrigation. He now relies on Fasal IoT, an IoT-powered device created by agritech startup Fasal, for all his farming decisions. IoT stands for ‘internet of things’ which refers to devices with sensors and software that can gather and exchange data over the internet.

Today, Ranjith has decided not to irrigate the field, because an alert on his smartphone noted that there is enough moisture around the primary root zone of the plants. While the surface might look dry, the soil sensors of the IoT device, present underground, gather data, to prompt this alert.

“Before installing the IoT device, water management was a big burden for us. We used to irrigate the field three times every week. Now, it has been reduced to twice a week. And by preventing diseases with smart irrigation techniques, our fertiliser cost has reduced by 40%. Around 30% sprays are reduced now, because of disease management. Overall, 40-50% of production cost has been reduced,” he tells Mongabay-India.

Fasal’s IOT device installed in Ranjith’s pomegranate farm at H Cross, Chikbalapur, Karnataka, India. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

Explaining how the device works, the founder of Fasal, Ananda Verma, talks from their Bengaluru office, “Fasal IoT captures macroclimatic data in terms of rainfall, windspeed, wind direction, solar intensity and microclimatic data such as canopy temperature, humidity and leaf wetness. We also capture below the soil parameters such as soil moisture and soil temperature. All this data goes to the cloud servers that we have, where we run agronomy models. These models tell what the idealistic behaviour of the crop is and whether the current climatic conditions are favouring the behaviour or deviating from that. Accordingly, we recommend farmers what actions need to be taken.”

India is the largest consumer of freshwater, most of which is used for agriculture. “In this era of climate change, it (an IoT device) is a must for a progressive farmer. There are water shortages and rising temperatures. By using these smart-irrigation devices we can save the production cost, reduce water consumption and improve the quality of the produce,” says Ranjith, who also exports his pomegranate.

Fasal claims that the smart-irrigation devices have allowed them to save around 80 billion litres of water. “We are present in more than 75,000 acres of land, so far. Horticulture is our primary target because horticulture is a part of agriculture where the management of crops is very critical, especially when it comes to weather, diseases and pests,” Verma shares.

The Indian horticulture sector contributes about 33% to the agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA), making a very significant contribution to the Indian economy. The country ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world. But climate change has thrown up several risks for horticulture crops, especially pest attacks. Some tech-savvy farmers are bypassing this challenge with pest identification apps that help in early detection, to contain the spread.

The soil sensor part of Fasal's IoT device that measures the soil moisture at underground to help farmers make smart irrigation decisions. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay. — The soil sensor part of agritech startup Fasal’s IoT device that measures the soil moisture at the primary and secondary root zones, to help farmers make smart irrigation decisions. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

An app to diagnose pest attacks and diseases

Farmers Sreenivasa Babu and Anita Murthy in Shadnagar, Telangana, located about 55 kilometres away from the capital, Hyderabad, are on their routine evening walk in their mango farm. The farm is alive with the sound of peacocks. The mangoes are ready to ripen in a few weeks, right on time for peak summer. However, on a few trees, the duo spots a black layer enveloping the leaves. They suspect it’s a disease, but they need to confirm the name and know what to do about it.

They quickly open an app called Plantix on their smartphone, take a picture of the affected leaf and upload it. Within seconds, the app diagnoses that it is ‘sooty mold’, a fungi, which has affected the tree and provides recommendations to the farmer on how to treat the plant.

“There’s also a tab called ‘Treatment’ and when you click on it, I will get to know organic control and chemical control. If I find that the disease is very less, I then first use organic control methods, which is usually neem oil and garlic ginger paste mixed with neem oil. Also, the way to use the organic control and its quantity in proportion to water, all the details are very clear,” shares Murthy. “The diagnosis is immediate. So, the loss of fruits or flowers is much less, which is very important for horticulture crops,” adds Babu.

Plantix can diagnose pests and diseases in about 31 major crops which includes paddy, maize, cotton and some fruits and vegetables. Since the diseases are also known differently in different parts of the country, the app is made available in 18 Indian languages, enabling easier access for farmers.

“An important feature of the app is the disease alert feature,” shares Padmaja Goka, Business Manager at Plantix, speaking to Mongabay-India from Plantix’s Hyderabad office. “If there is a prevailing pest or disease spreading in an area, the farmers using the app receive an alert. Heavy agricultural loss can therefore be prevented,” Goka explains.

Farmer Anita Murthy reads the diagnosis from Plantix app to figure out the disease that is affecting the mango tree and the treatment for the same. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay. — Farmer Anita Murthy demonstrates the Plantix app by scanning the leaves of a mango tree in her orchard to identify the disease and treatment. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

The need for a digital agriculture framework

While a segment of farmers has started using artificial intelligence (AI), smart equipment and internet of things sensors to practice climate-smart farming, the technology adoption is fragmented. To leverage the agritech solutions in India, and cross over the liminal space, it is crucial to raise awareness among farmers on the best practices and educate them on the use different techniques to adapt to the effects of climate change, says Purushottam Kaushik, Head, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum.

Kaushik is a part of Telangana’s AI for Agriculture Innovation initiative that launched a pilot project called Saagu Baagu, targeting 7,000 chilli farmers. The digital advisory services from the project contributed to a 21% increase in chilli yield production per acre. Learning from this success, Kaushik calls for a digital agriculture framework that would help governments create an enabling environment.

“Data is an important resource for the successful implementation of new technologies. Agritech companies can provide smallholder and women farmers with information-sharing packages to enhance their understanding of unpredictable weather patterns/precautionary measures. On a global level, startups need to collaborate and consult with experts, relevant stakeholders, government bodies, large industry partners to develop a blueprint on how to tackle this pressing challenge with digital agriculture practices and create a sustainable plan for the future,” he shares.

Farmers Anita Murthy and Sreenivasa Babu at their mango farm in Telangana. Photo by Narayanaswamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

Banner image: Farmer Ranjith at his pomegranate farm in H-Cross, Karnataka. Farmers in Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala are embracing agritech solutions to improve efficiency and increase profits. Photo by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman/Mongabay.

Article published by Adititandon