The Central Insecticide Board, the Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture has consented to Syngenta India for drone spray of its fungicide Amistar Top on paddy to guard the crop against fungal infections, blast & sheath blight. Another product of Syngenta Ampligo which is a mixture of two different modes of action active ingredients has also been approved by the 438th Registration Committee.
Syngenta is among the first companies to get approval for spraying agrochemicals by the regulatory authorities after submission of safety and bio efficacy data.
“We are happy that Syngenta’s Amistar Top is among the first products to have received approval from the Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee, Government of India. This shall help in the faster application of the solution and will ensure uniform spraying coverage of crops to minimize losses due to pests,” said KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officers, Syngenta India Pvt Ltd.
“Various invasive pests are entering the country every year and farmers have not been able to use innovative solutions to cover large acreages within a short period. Drones will help bridge such gaps. A recent example is how the government deployed drones to control locusts in many districts of Rajasthan in 2020,” added Kumar.
“We are working on drone research with various leading agricultural universities. We are also evaluating the use of our solutions through drones in different crops like Cotton, Soybean, groundnut, Hot pepper, Red gram, Corn, and Rice in Maharashtra. We’ve developed the in-house capability for evaluation of our products through drones at all four Syngenta R&D hubs located across India,” said Sunil Kurchania, Head Crop Protection Development (R&D) India.
The Central Government has also declared a performance-linked incentive of Rs 1.2 billion, which will additionally boost the manufacturing of drones, and their large-scale adoption in agriculture. “This is a win-win for all. Syngenta is also exploring the possibility of training rural youth as Agri entrepreneurs who could use Kisan Drones as a service to spray pesticides thereby increasing crop yields besides generating additional employment in rural areas,” added Ravi.
