Chennai, Feb 7 (IANS): The Centre for Aerospace Research (CASR) of Anna University is working on drones to support precision farming.

This will cut down the expenses of pesticides and increase the yield of the farming community in Tamil Nadu.

The CASR will soon be submitting a proposal on the same to the Tamil Nadu Drone corporation.

The chlorophyll content of the crops is assessed using these aerial drones that get data by using advanced multispectral sensors. Real-time imagery of the fields with the help of high-resolution multispectral cameras will help farmers identify diseases of crops.

Dr. Senthil Kumar, Director, CASR while speaking to IANS said: "The mapping will help farmers in better monitoring of crop health. The controlled spraying of pesticide will lead to better yield of crops and the quantity of pesticides used can be minimised to a great deal cutting the expense part to a major extent."

The CASR, according to Dr. Senthil, has conducted studies on farming using drones in all the districts of Tamil Nadu and will soon be submitting a detailed note on the performance of these drones and the possibility of high yield and less costing in the farming sector of Tamil Nadu to the Tamil Nadu Drone Corporation.

CASR officials said that the Centre is supporting with funds for using drones in agriculture and there are several agencies associated with the Union government that can support the initiative financially.

The CASR scientists also said that the aim of the department is to develop drones that can do mapping, data analysis, and spraying of pesticides in one go.

This will help farmers to spray pesticides only on the affected areas of the crops instead of the whole farm and would reduce the expenses in pesticide spraying as also they minimise the effect of harmful chemicals being sprayed across the entire fields.