Pics: Dayananda Kukkaje

Mangaluru, Jun 5: On the occasion of world environment day, Vikas drone was unveiled on Saturday, June 4 at Vikas Campus by Krishna J Palemar in the presence of MLA C T Ravi and the chairman of Krishi Vigyan Kendra Mangaluru Prof Shivakumar.

Vikas drone will play a vital role in sowing seeds in different areas. Drone will plant one lac trees, especially the rare ones in the Western Ghats to ensure the preservation of flora and fauna.

It is all part of an ambitious plan by Krishna J Palemar, former minister- Ecology and Environment for the Government of Karnataka, inspired by the BioCarbon Engineering, a UK based startup.

Deforestation downs 10 billion trees around the globe annually. Replanting trees by hand is slow, expensive, and barely puts a dent in reversing the damage. But this startup would ensure the use drones that can reforest our increasingly tree-strapped earth on a big enough scale to replace slow and expensive hired humans.

The drone based reforestation scheme is simple and efficient. This is for the first time in India drone based approach in planting is introduced.

The chief guest of the program, CT Ravi said, “Live and let live policy has been left behind by humans. It has been a reality to celebrate world environment day as we have destroyed the forest. Human beings cannot live destroying the nature. Environmental issues like wastage and losses of food, deforestation, increasing global warming and so on are on the rise.”

Chairman of Krishi Vigyan Kendra Mangaluru, Prof Shivakumar, guest of honour of the programme said, “In future we will not have the phobia of war, health but we will have the phobia of greenery. We get gold but not food, we get petrol but not water. To give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership, which will ensure all nations and people to enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. Drones will remove the deforestation. This technology will dispose the seeds to all corners of the place.”

Krishna J Palemar Chariman of Vikas Education Trust said, “Save nature by planting trees. It is the responsibility of everyone. We have destroyed nature but we are trying very little to save it. The farmer’s friend earthworm is not found in our backyard today and we are getting it from some other country. I urge students to preserve the nature.”

Here’s a quick look at how it plans to deploy its drone fleet:

First, do a 3-D aerial survey. Drones are sent to fly over a potential planting zone, snapping photos that create 3-D maps of the area to be reforested. The number of drones will vary depending on the size of the seeding.

Create a seeding plan-Once all that terrain data has been analyzed; it then generates a seeding pattern that best suits the terrain.

Load the seed pods- The drones, which are equipped with guidance and control software, carry pressurized canisters of seed pods with germinated seeds immersed in a nutrient-rich gel.

Hover and plant- Flying at a height of 1 or 2 meters, the drones follow the planting patterns, firing the biodegradable seed pods down to the ground. The pods break open upon impact, allowing the germinated seed a chance to take root.

Palemar sees his dream project of these drones, which are exclusively custom-made and built by a startup in Mangalore, Dreamers Pvt Ltd at Sahyadri College Incubation centre, as an important way for existing reforesting organizations to expand their approach.

Sometimes planting by hand is absolutely the right approach but, in other instances, the drones can be a very effective tool for the right location at the right time. To combat industrial scale deforestation, industrial scale reforestation is the only solution.

Palemar plans a full implementation of this project having a team of two operators running seven or eight drones simultaneously in the near future. He also plans to take this project to the national level and give it a boost to ensure more trees are planted all over the country.

Planting at about 10 pods per minute will equate to roughly 36,000 trees per day for each team. The next set of drones that will be designed will have solar powered batteries and capacity to fire more seed pods.

Secretary of Vikas Education Trust J K Rao, Trustee J Koragappa, and Suraj Kumar Kallya, advisor of Vikas, Dr Ananth Prabhu G, Principal Prof Venkat Rayudu, academic advisor Prof Jino K John were present.

Deepika Shetty compered the programme.