To spray pesticides, Moga women learn to fly high

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, 24 December

After mastering the usage of drones, three women of Moga are all set to spray pesticides and liquid fertilisers on acres of farmland in the area in less than a day without endangering their health.

Jaswinder Kaur Dhaliwal of Rattian, Sarbjit Kaur Gill of Gholia Khurd and Harjeet Kaur of Kokri Heran villages of Moga are ready to operate drones and whirl-flying machines across farmlands to slash the time spent in spraying fertilisers and pesticides.

Each of these women are being provided a drone worth Rs 15 lakh free of cost by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (IFFCO).

300 women trained across country

• HS Sidhu, state marketing manager of IFFCO, said as part of a project, 300 women from across the country had been given free training in operating drones
• “IFFCO has placed a purchase order for 2,500 drones to be used across the country, of which 110 will be for Punjab,” he said
• “To begin with, 20 women, preferably Class XII pass and working with self-help groups, have been selected from Punjab. A drone can cover 20 acres in a day and the money earned will go to these women,” he added

Female drone pilots are set to make their presence felt in the area of agriculture, said Moga Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh.

After a fortnight-long training provided by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative at the Prime Minister Mahila Kisan Drone Kendra in Manesar, Haryana, these women will use drones to spray fertilisers on the fields of farmers in their areas, charging Rs 200 to Rs 250 per acre, the Deputy Commissioner said.

“We all use smartphones and other devices. Learning the use of drones was not difficult,” said Sarbjit of Gholia Khurd village.

Drones would help minimise the manual labour cost for spraying fertilisers and pesticides in fields, she said, adding that adoption of new technology was required in labour-intensive tasks.

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative had approached Grant Thornton Bharat, which is already working with over 27,000 women in Ludhiana, Moga, Barnala, and Rupnagar districts, to shortlist women for drone-flying training.

HS Sidhu, state marketing manager of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative, said as part of the project, as many as 300 women from the country had been given free training to use drones.

“To begin with, 20 women, preferably Class XII pass and working with a self-help group, have been selected from Punjab. The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative has placed a purchase order for 2,500 drones to be used across the country, of which 110 drones will be set aside for Punjab. A drone can cover 20 acres in a day and the money earned will go to these women,” Sidhu added.

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