Research Projects

In recent times, use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) use in agriculture especially for spraying applications has drawn lots of attention. Though the use of pesticides and fungicides has improved agriculture crop yields significantly, rampant and improper usage of the same not only has a significant impact on human health and environment but also increases the agricultural input costs. Pesticides from non-target agricultural crops or volatilization from the treated area may contaminate air, soil, and water. India consumes 3 % of the world's pesticides production, with a rate of increase of 2-5 % per year. An efficient delivery mechanism for these chemicals can significantly reduce the consumption, thereby reducing the harm to the environment. Use of UAVs for pesticide spraying has increased in recent times due to better efficacy, lesser risk of operator exposing to harmful chemicals and speed of operation []. In the field, due to variability in the pest infestation or nutrient deficiency, the quantities required to be varied may different at different location. Also, change in the environmental conditions such as wind speed or high of the plant can affect the spray deposition. An UAV based precision variable spraying systems that can adjust the quantities to be sprayed by adjusting the spraying input parameters without affecting the spray characteristics significantly is the need of the hour. such as spraying system can limit the use of pesticides there by environmental impact as well as input costs.