Awareness of drone technology application in agriculture amongst the progressive farmers

Abstract

Drones, a type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is a versatile tool used for personal, military, and commercial applications. With increasing population and food demand, traditional farming methods alone are insufficient, creating a need for advanced technologies like drones to enhance agricultural productivity. Agricultural drone technology, first developed in the early 2000s by the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, enables precise field monitoring, crop mapping, and spraying, helping farmers make data-driven decisions. A study at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri (MPKV), aimed to assess the awareness of drone technology among progressive farmers across Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, and Satara districts. The study involved 151 progressive farmers from various Farmers’ Scientists’ Forums of the agricultural colleges and agricultural research stations from MPKV, Rahuri. More than two-third (68.21 per cent) of progressive farmers had low level of awareness of drone technology application and the remaining 31.79 per cent of the progressive farmers had very low level of awareness of drone technology application in agriculture.