Private insurance companies are using drones to photograph farms and if permitted by the agriculture ministry these could provide data to calculate crop yield.
Insurers are using unmanned aerial vehicles as a pilot scheme. The agriculture ministry has called for use of such modern technology for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
Drones have not gained widespread commercial use, as individuals need permission from local governments and other regulatory bodies to fly them. The government is also keen on using technology such as Smartphones and remote sensing to reduce crop cutting experiments and help cut delay in payments to farmers. The government is planning to spend Rs 5,500 crore on the crop insurance scheme.
Anuj Tyagi, member of executive management at HDFC ERGO General Insurance, said his company had conducted a project with drones in Rajasthan.
“We think using drones will be a successful experiment,” he added. He said in Rajasthan, his company had looked at data collected by drones as well as satellite images, and they were happy with the results. ICICI Lombard is also using drones for crop yield data.
