A first: Four Ludhiana district women farmers become ‘Namo Drone Didis’

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, February 28

In a first, four women farmers from different parts of the district have become ‘Namo Drone Didis’ under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme aimed at helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains and rural prosperity.

Eligibility

• Applicant should be a woman
• Applicant should belong to lower economic groups
• Applicant should be involved in agricultural activities

Benefits

• This will help increase the number of women working in the agriculture industry
• The ‘Drone Didi’ yojana also acts as the next stage in empowering women through SHGs to become self-reliant (atmanirbhar). It will give more people the chance to find work

Salient features

• Women empowerment
• Modernisation of agriculture
• Job opportunities
• Efficient fertigation system
• Overcoming fertiliser challenges

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney handed over four drones systems, comprising an electrical vehicle and generator, costing Rs 15 lakh each, free of cost to the young progressive peasants — Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal, Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal, Gurinder Kaur from Machhiwara and Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machhiwara.

Aged between 25 and 40, the beneficiaries are well-qualified with most of them graduates in agriculture and heading self-help groups (SHGs) dealing in agro and farmers’ producers’ companies in their respective villages with hundreds of farmers as their members.

Congratulating the women farmers on becoming part of the national revolutionary scheme which has an allocation of Rs 1,261 crore to empower female SHGs in the use of drones for agricultural purposes, the DC told The Tribune, here on Wednesday, that the beneficiaries have undergone a comprehensive training at Manesar near Gurugram between November and December last following which they became eligible for becoming the ‘Namo Drone Didis’.

“The scheme aims to boost their self-confidence and encourage active participation in the latest agricultural endeavours,” Sawhney said while hoping that the economically empowered women would contribute to the development of the state and the nation.

She said these skilled female pilots, known as NaMo drone didis, would help achieve higher productivity, enhanced crop health and reduced environmental impact using nano urea and nano DAP with drones. With the help of drones, the spraying could be done on one-acre area in seven minutes.

“With an aim to revolutionise agricultural practices and promote women’s empowerment in agriculture, the beneficiaries have also been imparted two-day on-farm training at Barundi village, focusing on adept handling and operational techniques of the drone technology,” she said.

Beneficiaries

Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal is the chairperson of the Board of Directors of Lapran Multipurpose Farmers’ Producer Company. She had worked on paddy straw management.

Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal is heading the Board of Directors of Barundi Agro Farmers’ Producer Company. She herself is a vegetable grower over 5 acres of land.

Gurinder Kaur from Machhiwara. Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machhiwara is also on the Board of Directors of Satluj Women Farmèrs’ Producer Company.

Know the scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the launch of ‘Namo Drone Didi’, a revolutionary scheme with an allocation of Rs 1,261 crore approved by the Union Cabinet, from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, 2023, for helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains.

With a goal to create two crore lakhpati didis in rural areas, the scheme entails training to 15,000 female SHG members to operate and maintain drones.

Launched under his flagship ‘Lakhpati Didi’ project, the PM had announced that drones will be given to female SHGs so that they could use the technology to support their livelihoods under the ‘Drone Didi’ yojana 2023-24.

Over the course of next three years, the Centre will give 15,000 drones to women SHGs across the country.

Objective

The primary objective of the scheme is to empower women and make them independent financially. The beneficiaries will be able to work, which will help them become independent. Additionally, more farmers would employ drones, which would strengthen the agriculture industry. The idea of the scheme is to enhance the capacity and improve the livelihood of sisters associated with self-help groups.

It will also help protect bodies of farmers, which were affected by pesticides, DAP and urea during the manual spray in the fields. Besides, it will also check the imbalance, such as over-spraying and under-spraying. As drone use grows, negative effects on the body will decrease and the amount of fertiliser will reduce.

Challenges and solutions

India’s fertiliser challenges, including dependence on imports and price volatility, are addressed through indigenous research and development of alternative fertilisers.

The efficient fertigation system facilitated by drone technology mitigates challenges in fertiliser distribution and application, contributing to agricultural sustainability.

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