Swiss crop protection and seeds producer Syngenta is set to scale up crop spraying by drones in India for six crops including soyabeans, cotton and rice, Financial Express reported.
Initially, Syngenta India will use 50 drones to spray 30,000 acres (12,140ha) of farmland across the country, according to the 15 July report.
The company launched its drone spraying campaign using two products – a fungicide and an insecticide – after conducting trials on 400 acres (161ha) and submitting data to regulators for 20 crops, the report said.
Syngenta India country head and managing director Susheel Kumar was quoted as saying that India was now one of the top five countries for the company, which would be launching two to three new products every year in the Indian market.
The Basel-based company is also launching an app for growers offering agronomy, weather-based alerts, personalised crop calendars, nutrient recommendations, image-based disease diagnostics and credit access to small farmers through partnerships with fin-tech companies, according to the report.
