A web meet was conducted at Krishi Bhawan, Talab Tillo Jammu between Directorate of Agriculture Production & Farmers Welfare, Jammu and Dronelabs Technology Pvt. Ltd. Gujarat.The meeting was organized as per instructions of Principal Secretary AP & FWD, J&K UT with the purpose to explore the possibility of use of Drone Technology for verification of acreage under different crops vis-a-vis actual acreage.It may be mentioned here that Drone technology application has gained significant importance in the field of agriculture such as crop monitoring, crop protection, soil/field analysis and to improve overall quality and productivity of crops.Director AP & FWD, Jammu, K. K. Sharma said that need to validate the acreage under crops arouse because difference has been observed between cropped area reflected in Statistical Survey book of revenue and actual acreage as cropped area is shrinking due to construction works on one hand and some forest/barren land is being brought under farming on other hand. As such the Director sought suggestions from experts to frame strategy for the said task.
The Director asked the concerned agency (Drone Lab Technology Pvt. Ltd.) to arrange for live demonstration of drone technology so that the whole process can be better understood and applied for validation of acreage under various crops in Jammu region. “This will form a sound basis for yield estimation, production forecast and future planning”, he added. Further the data received from Drone will be integrated on the GIS platform to accomplish the required purpose.Experts from Dronelab Technology Pvt. Ltd. informed that Drone technology can be utilized to demarcate the crop area, identification of crop type, data analysis through different modules developed by the agency by use of high resolution multispectral cameras.It was agreed that a live on ground demonstration of drone technology will be organized shortly by the company on 500 areas of land at Jammu.Arun Manhas, MD, JK Agro Industries Ltd. also participated in the meet online. Deputy Director Agriculture (Central), R. K. Hitaishi, CAO Jammu, A. S. Reen, PDO, Y. S. Sasan, Agriculture Engineers, A. H. Salaria, B. M. Rana and Estate officer, Ajab Singh attended the meet besides others.