Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans to procure 2,500 drones for spraying its products nano urea and nano DAP (Diammonium Phosphate). IFFCO also plans to create 5,000 rural entrepreneurs, who would be trained for spraying via drones.
Gurugram-headquartered IoTechWorld, manufacturer of India’s first DGCA-type certified drone ‘AGRIBOT’, has been Co-Founded by Deepak Bhardwaj and Anoop Upadhyay. IoTechWorld Avigation is also backed by leading agritech company Dhanuka Agritech Ltd.
“We are indeed privileged to receive single biggest order for purchase of Krishi-drones from IFFCO. The company will deliver 500 drones to IFFCO by December 2023,” Upadhyay said in a statement.
He further said that since IoTechWorld’s inception, the endeavour has been to promote technological innovation in the field of agriculture and the company is the pioneer of Krishi-drones in the country.
Elaborating on the large supply order from IFFCO, Bhardwaj said the drone market is rapidly growing and there has been a tremendous demand from various companies including fertilizer and pesticides companies as well as from rural entrepreneurs including farmers.“Our AGRIBOT (krishi drone) have been specially designed and programmed for fertilizers. The order from IFFCO is testament of our strength in the agri-drone segment. Our target is to help farmers and Agri Entrepreneurs in Implementation of made in India Nano Urea and Nano DAP newly launched by IFFCO,” he said.Besides IFFCO, IoTechWorld Avigation has also partnered with agrochemical company Syngenta and has undertaken 17,000 KM of drone yatra in various parts of the country.
“We are expecting 5-6 times more demand in the current fiscal compared to last year with target of selling more than 3,000 drone in this fiscal year. We are also exploring opportunities for exports. The Government’s recent decision to liberalize the export policy for drones opens up a gamut of opportunity, and there is a huge demand in overseas markets,” Mr. Upadhyay added.
The company is also in discussion for exporting drones in regions like SAARC, South East Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Oman, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, and Africa, which are the focus countries of IoTech export sales.
The company is also extensively focusing on creating awareness about the benefits of using drones in agriculture. IoTech has also set up several remote pilot training organizations where people are trained to fly drones.
“These Krishi-drones not only save time and money but also increase farm productivity. Besides, the use of drones in farming activities, like spraying pesticides over crops, has health benefits for farmers,” Bhardwaj said.
The company along with its partners is also focusing on creating village level entrepreneurs and helping in establishing remote pilot training organization across the country, he added.
