Context: Recently, the Indian Prime Minister announced an initiative- “NAMO Drone Didi”, during interaction with beneficiaries in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

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About NAMO Drone Didi Scheme

• Why is there a need for the NAMO Drone Didi Scheme?
  • For Women Empowerment: The scheme is required to empower women, which is the key to building a strong and developed nation. This is especially the case when women flourish economically and contribute to rural prosperity. 
• What is the aim of the Namo Drone Didi Scheme?
  • To supply drones to 15,000 women Self Help Groups (SHGs) to rent to farmers for agriculture purposes. 

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NAMO Drone Didi Scheme: Significance

• Empowerment of Rural Women: The NAMO Drone Didi Scheme will help in harnessing technological innovation to empower rural women. It makes women the backbone of the rural economy.
  • It is putting drone technology in the hands of women pilots from SHGs.
• Modernize Agricultural Practices: The  NAMO Drone Didi Scheme effectively addresses the need to modernize agricultural practices.
  • To increase agricultural productivity by providing cutting-edge technology to rural women. 
    • It is a step towards the new agricultural revolution. 
• Job Opportunities: It will help by providing new opportunities in the emerging field of drone aeronautics (having a huge untapped potential).
  • This new field will also create opportunities for rural women pilots, mechanics, and spare-part dealers.
• Development of an Efficient Fertigation System: It is due to the emergence of innovative new liquid fertilisers like Nano Urea and Nano DAP with the foliar application. (Learn more about Nano Fertilizers, here).
  • ‘Fertigation’ is the technique of supplying dissolved fertilisers to crops through an irrigation system. 
• Time-Efficient System: The automation of the spraying system by means of agri-drones provides a time-saving and efficient application system. 
• Equitable System: It will help in making the agrarian family culture more equitable and strong.

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India’s Fertiliser Challenge and Steps Taken to Counter Them

• High Importer of Fertilisers: Though India is the second-largest producer of fertilisers, it is also the second-largest importer due to inadequate availability of natural resources like gas, phosphatic and potassic minerals, etc. 
  • To overcome this dependence on imports, the government focused on the revival of several closed-down fertiliser units and encouraged the setting up of new units to protect Indian farmers from the price volatility of fertilisers in the international markets. 

• Geopolitical Situations: The Covid-19 pandemic and the recent global geopolitical situation posed tough challenges as the price of fertilisers soared very high. 
• • To counter this challenge, the government encouraged indigenous research for the development of alternate fertilisers such as liquid nano fertiliser. 
• Efficient Fertigation System: To develop an efficient fertigation system is another challenge. 
  • This challenge can be effectively countered by the emerging drone technology.

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Conclusion:

The NAMO Drone Didi scheme will be a game-changer by effectively addressing multiple issues by providing an opportunity for rural women to be empowered, which will prove to be a harbinger of modern-day agricultural revolution and prosperity in India.

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