DGCA approves Telangana State Agricultural University's request to use drones for research

HYDERABAD: The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the Standard Operating Procedures for the usage of drones by the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) as part of research. The approval will be valid for a period of one year. 

The university would be using drones for evaluation and standardisation of plant protection solutions and developing protocols for diagnosis of major pests and diseases, at its research farms in the state. The university would study the utility of drones in taking up crop diagnosis, pests and diseases survey and spraying of pesticides. 

Announcing the grant of approval by the DGCA in a press release on Monday, the university said, "PJTSAU has taken up studies covering five major crops of Telangana state viz, rice, cotton, red gram, soybean and groundnut occupying more than 95% of the cropped area in the State, to generate the SOPs for agri-drone spraying will help government in formulating a policy for the use of emerging technologies in agriculture." 

It further said that the research initiative is in tune with the new agriculture policy of the Telangana government.It said that the university is also taking up research for the usage of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence in the field of agriculture.