Umerkote: A youth in Nabarangpur district has built a drone for agricultural works at a minimal expense of Rs 4 lakh. It was on display at the Make in Odisha (MiO) conclave and is cheaper than the drones available in the market. The youth was identified as Subhashis Sahu, son of Sujata and Rabindra Kumar Sahu of Gulipatna Sahi in Umerkote of Nabarangpur district and a B.Tech student in agriculture science at Centurion University. His work has brought him glory and made the state proud as the drones used in agricultural works cost around Rs 12 lakh in the market.
Earlier, he had become the talk of the town by constructing a small ship. His work did not go unnoticed as the Chief Minister awarded him for his invention at the Make in Odisha (MiO) conclave. He received Rs 1 lakh in cash, a certificate and a memento as recognition for his unique innovation.
Notably, over 1,300 projects were on display at the Odisha start-up programme in MiO conclave out of which experts selected only 300 projects for the second phase. Later, 300 entrepreneurs made a presentation of their projects in PDF format thorough online mode, November 26. Out of those, the experts selected 22 projects where the entrepreneurs made a detailed presentation highlighting the attributes of their projects. The experts finally selected 10 projects including the drone constructed by Subhashis of Umerkote. Subhashis has been a meritorious student from his childhood. His pursuit has always been to do something new.
According to Subhashis, the drones available in the market for agricultural work cost around Rs 12 lakh and need skilled labourers to operate them. Moreover, these drones can only spray pesticides on around 15 hectare of land at a time and will not be able to fly during rain and heavy wind. However, the drone constructed by him costs only Rs 4 lakh and can fly even in adverse weather conditions. The drone can identify the location where the pests have attacked the crops on the farmland with the help of a camera and inform the farmers. The drone can fly even in adverse weather conditions like rain and heavy wind and spray pesticides over 25 hectare of land at a time. It can fly for long hours with a load of 10 kg of pesticides.
Moreover, anyone can operate it and no skilled hand is required. When contacted, Subhashis credited his success to his Professor Dr Sekhar Kumar Sahu of Centurion University. He was able to build the drone under his guidance and constant supervision. He said that he will apply for a patent after his design is turned into a product. He, however, will not sell the design but will build a brand and market the product, he said. The state government will provide him accommodation for office where he will work on the development of his drone. The state government has also promised to provide him with financial and expert assistance to further his endeavor, he added.
