Drones likely to transport apple from high-altitude Kinnaur areas

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, June 25

Drones can be introduced in Kinnaur for the transportation of apple this season. Skye Air Mobility, a private company that provides drone services, is all set to deploy drones in Kinnaur after mid-July to transport apple.

“Most of the orchards in Kinnaur are located at high altitudes and the apple growers have to use mules or porters to take the produce to the warehouse. Here the produce is graded and packaged and then transported further,” said Skye Air Mobility Ankit Kumar. “The drones will be used to bring the produce to the warehouse. Drones will drastically reduce the transportation time. The five to six-hour effort will reduce to just five to 10 minutes,” says Ankit.

The company has already conducted a trial at Nichar village in Kinnaur district. An apple box weighing around 18 kg was carried by a drone for a distance of around 10 km to 12 km in just a few minutes. He says that the drones having a higher payload capacity would be deployed for actual transportation of the fruit.

“Initially, we will deploy five drones and then we will scale up. These drones will have a payload capacity of around 100 kg. So they would be able to carry five crates in one go,” he said.

Kumar said the transportation via drone would cost roughly the same as through mules and porters. “Even as the cost remains more or less the same, the drones will drastically reduce the time and effort involved in the process,” he says.

The drone service will not be available directly to the growers. “We will provide the drone service to the companies involved in fruit aggregating business,” said Kumar.

The apple growers in Kinnaur are looking forward to transporting apple through drones. “It will be a very good development if it happens. In several areas, there’s no road to the orchards and carrying the produce to the transportation point is very difficult and time consuming. So, having drones for the purpose will be quite helpful,” said Krishan Prasad Negi, an orchardist from Kinnaur.