April 12, Colombo (LNW): The government has taken a major step towards revolutionizing Sri Lanka agriculture industry with financial support of the Bank of Ceylon for the first 100 agriculture drone pilots’ project
Sri Lanka recently witnessed a groundbreaking moment in its agricultural sector as the first 100 agriculture drones took flight at Sooriyawewa KDU Southern Campus ground, marking a significant leap forward in modernizing the country’s farming practices.
The financial initiative, spearheaded by the Bank of Ceylon, provided a loan facility for the importation of 250 drones aiming to revolutionize Sri Lanka’s agriculture by supporting to introduce cutting-edge technology to enhance productivity and efficiency.
Joining this momentous occasion were Mahinda Amaraweera Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries , Rear Admiral HGU Dammika Kumara VSV, USP, psc, MMaritimePol, BSc (DS): Vice Chancellor of KDU, .Kavinda Dissanayake : Managing Director of Kenilworth International Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and Chairman of Agriculture Sector Skills Council(Ministry of Education)
Representatives from the Bank of Ceylon including DGM Corporate and offshore. M R N Rohana Kumara and Chief Marketing Officer Mr. Sameera Liyanage graced the occasion
Today, agriculture technology – often called AgTech – is transforming the agriculture industry through the use of tech innovations like high-resolution imagery, ground heat mapping and more.
Drones in agriculture have become a powerful tool for monitoring crops and livestock by delivering more expansive and higher-resolution imagery and enabling more detailed data gathering.
Depending on the type of information or task required of them, various sensors, camera lenses, hooks, sprayers and even small buckets to collect samples can be attached to drones.
Data gathered by the drone streams back to a tablet or computer, providing useful information and photos about land, crops and livestock.
Maintaining land, crops, stables and livestock is hands-on work, and that can take a lot of time. Even smaller hobby farmers may spend countless hours walking their land to spot potential issues before they become bigger problems. However, there’s only so much one can see on foot.
Drone technology provides agribusinesses with more in-depth results in real time. With images collected from a farming drone, agribusiness owners can get high-definition photos, videos and data within minutes.
With a bird’s-eye view, it’s easier to see the bigger picture, spot crop issues or potential safety problems and act quickly.
In addition to the time savings, high-resolution drone imagery offers more insights compared to more pixelated satellite images.
Farmers and ranchers can compile data from drones and get a clearer picture of crop growth, health and soil moisture, enabling them to make more informed decisions
