Dhanuka group, a crop protection and pharmaceutical manufacturer, plans to roll out drone-based services for farmers.

The firm expects to deploy at least 30-40 pilots by next kharif season to launch drone-based services, including spray of pesticides, fertilisers and analyse soil health.

The services will be launched through Dhanuka Agri Services, a new business window opened by the company.

“We have got the license to offer the service. We have got two drones as of now. We are expecting to have 30-40 pilots operating drones across the country by next kharif season,” RG Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group, said.

“We are planning to offer the service as a package and make it affordable for farmers. Drones can help assess the health of soil and map the presence of pests. This will enable the farmers to reduce the losses by addressing the challenges well in time,” he said.

Expansion plans

He said Dhanuka Agritech was expanding its operations by investing ₹100 crore. “The first phase at the Dahej (Gujarat) plant will be ready by June 2022. After that we will invest another ₹100 crore in the second phase,” he said.

The company is in talks with a few Japanese players to explore opportunities for manufacturing products for them. “Some international players are looking at alternatives to China as their manufacturing base. There is a good scope for companies in India to tap the opportunity,” he said.

The firm has technical tie-ups with two American, three European and six Japanese firms.

Exports

The company will use the Dahej plant as a launchpad for its plans to tap the export opportunity. “We need to register our products (in foreign markets) before we seek to export them. As and when we get the approvals, we will start exports,” he said.

Low pesticide usage

He said the country’s average use of pesticides stood at just 340 grams a hectare against 13 kg a hectare in China. This, he said, was resulting in low productivity, putting the country way behind China.

“When you compare with China, the productivity and per hectare incomes are very low despite the fact the two countries shared similar climatic conditions,” he said.

The Dhanuka group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University to provide technical know-how and support farmers.