PANAJI:
Mechanisation of operations to beat high labour costs has been a striking feature of Goa's paddy farming in recent years but not many of Goa's ryots are opting for 'drone farming' a term used for the practice of fertilising standing crop or spraying pesticides using drones.
A top official of the Directorate of Agriculture told The Goan that barring a handful of pockets in Salcete where 'Goencho Xetkar' a private service provider operates, the use of drones for spraying fertilizers and pesticides in the rest of the State is negligible.
Chinchinim where paddy farming has picked up significantly through a community effort mentored by the local communidade and Velim MLA Cruz Silva, is one area that used drones extensively to spray fertilizers and pesticides.
According to Chinchinim panch Gerson Gomes, drone farming significantly reduces costs and also ensures optimal utility of fertilizers and pesticides.
"The spraying becomes targeted when you use drones. When it is done manually, larger quantities of fertilizers and pesticides are inadvertently consumed. Also, the operations which can be completed using drones in a single day will take a minimum of a week if done manually," Gomes said, adding that costs get reduced significantly.
Agriculture officials, meanwhile, claimed that fragmented land holdings, difficult topography and inadequate number of service providers are perhaps the reasons why drone farming is yet to pick up at a pace with which mechanisation has picked up for tilling, sowing and harvesting paddy in the State.
An overwhelming majority of Goan farmers now opt for mechanisation of these crucial operations in paddy cultivation and the Agriculture department which subsidizes these services through empanelled service providers counts it as the prime reason why farming has picked up recently.
Officials of the department, meanwhile, are struggling to identify women who are members of self-help groups in farming clusters of the State to hard sell 'Drone Didi Yojna' scheme under which the Centre subsidizes up to 80 per-cent of the costs of drone equipment for farming purposes.
The main objective is to promote women to become service providers and cater to farmers' fertilizer and pesticide spraying needs by using these drones. Up to Rs 8-lakh (80% of cost) is paid upfront but only members of SHGs are eligible.
