Smart Farming & Youth Employment: PJTSAU Plans Certificate Course on Drone Use

Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Hyderabad, is planning to carry out a certificate course in drones usage in agriculture, seeing bright employment and self-employment potential for young people as well as assisting farmers. This certificate program will be given in collaboration with a company that specializes in aviation. 

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already given the institution permission to utilize drones for agricultural research and development. It is the country's first institution to get such approval. 

In PJTSAU research farms in Telangana, clearance was given for the assessment and standardization of plant protection solutions, agri-spraying, and building procedures for the detection of important pests and diseases. The institution created standard operating standards for six major crops in the state with the help of students. 

Certificate Course on Drone use will create Career Prospects

"The university intends to roll out certified drone trained human resource for public use through the certificate course in drones use in agriculture." A drone pilot will be assigned to each village in the state. Dr. V Praveen Rao, a vice-chancellor of PJTSAU, said that the training will also create career prospects for rural youth and university students. 

Apart from that, due to the high demand for organic food these days, the institution has chosen to start offering an MSc in Organic Farming program this year. As a result, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has approved the varsity administration to begin the program where the facilities are available. The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana has offered the institution a unique project in organic farming worth Rs 10 crore. 

In addition, the university has started registration for the second batch of an online course on "skill and entrepreneurship development in organic farming," which was completed in conjunction with the Association of Indian Organic Industry. The training will start on March 1st. 

This year, the PJTSAU changed the course curricula for the postgraduate agri-business management program in conjunction with the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.