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India's future in agriculture: using robotics and vertical farming

Being an agrarian economy, India needs to keep up with emerging global farming trends. Two of them are vertical farming and the application of robotics in agriculture. If you are an avid agriculture enthusiast, this can be a must-read for you. Let’s find out about the prospects of vertical farming and the use of robotics in agriculture.

Robotics in farming

The agriculture industry in India has witnessed many transformations and one of them is the use of robotics and automation. It is still an uncommon practice for small farmers but hopefully can be the ultimate reality soon. The application of robotics in agriculture aims at keeping a sustainable approach and helping farmers produce high-yield crops. The use of agricultural robots is not confined to a single agricultural step. Ag Robots can be used for harvesting, weed control, irrigation, seeding, spraying, and livestock monitoring.

Classification of agricultural robots

Agricultural robots can be mainly classified into three categories:

Crop-harvesting robots

Crop harvesting can be daunting and also demands the right skills. Eliminating these challenges, crop-harvesting robots come to the rescue. Designed to operate in a heated environment, these robots use algorithms to handle crops with care. They also remain cautious about fragile and diseased crops.

Welding robots

The next type of agribots on our list are wedding robots which function with AI and can differentiate between weeds and crops. These robots are listed among the highly demanded robots in the agro-industry.

Aerial imagery and seed-planting drones

Drones are widely used for seed planting and monitoring as they provide farmers with an enhanced view of crops. Additionally, they provide croprelated real-time data that can be used in agricultural research.

Way forward in India and challenges

The aim and usage of agricultural robots in India look clear in the long run, but manufacturing and costing emerge as current challenges. The average cost of these robots begins from 6000 INR. It is a considerable amount for smaller farmers who are already debt-ridden and have other constraints like power cuts, complex operations, and lack of technical expertise.

Vertical farming in India

Another prospect we are talking about is vertical farming. As the name suggests, vertical farming is practiced on vertical surfaces contrary to the conventional patterns. It can help in achieving the food supply demands of the planet where agricultural land is shrinking every passing day.

Vertical farming techniques

Vertical farming techniques can be broadly categorized into three types:

Hydroponics - It is the oldest technique used in vertical farming. Plants get suspended in a soilless bed and roots keep hanging to get oxygen aerated solution.

Aeroponics - Aeroponics is costlier than other methods and comes with free-floating roots. With the use of a pump, a tiny mist of nutritional solution is sprayed onto the dangling roots, where it is absorbed.

Aquaponics - Aquaponics systems involve soil-free plant beds suspended over nutrient-rich water, with fishes producing waste for plants, and plants purifying water for fishes, requiring greater attention than hydroponics and aeroponics.

Way forward in India

Vertical farming can get along with conventional farming methods because it has the capacity to multiply production by 240 times that too with 98% less water. The best part is that vertical farming is practiced in Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.

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