Agriculture ministry permits use of drones for remote sensing data collection

The agriculture ministry has been permitted to use drones for remote sensing data collection under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation have granted conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW)," an official statement said on Friday.

This will allow MoAFW to use drones for remote sensing data collection in agricultural areas of 100 districts of the country for gram panchayat level yield estimation, under PMFBY.

The conditional exemption will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the permission letter or until the operationalisation of the Digital Sky Platform, whichever is earlier, the statement by the civil aviation ministry said.

This exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations are strictly adhered to, it said.

While conditional exemption has been given to MoAFW, it still needs to obtain necessary clearances from the local administration, the defence ministry, home ministry, Indian Air Force and Airports Authority of India, the statement added.