Perception, attitude and knowledge of farmers towards agridrones: Case study on influence of Mann Ki Baat program

In the recent years, ICTs has proved to be highly beneficial for the farmers in getting easy access to the customized agricultural information and therefore, have a potential to influence smart agriculture. The Honourable Prime Minister through his Mann Ki Baat program has given a vision of quantum jumps in the economy, which will be driven by ’new-age technologies’. Out of 99 episodes on Mann Ki Baat broadcasted so far, 7 had major emphasis on the farming sector and farmers welfare. In the 95th episode (aired on November 27, 2022), he highlighted the roles of drones in agriculture. The present study was designed to know the overall perception, attitude, and knowledge level of farmers with respect to different aspects of Agri-drones, who have actively participated in Mann Ki Baat program. Primary data was collected and analysed from 1398 farmers, who participated in Mann Ki Baat program under the aegis of 77 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), chosen randomly across the country. We learned that a majority of the farmers have participated in the program and perceived that drones were useful for agricultural operations and such farmers had favourable attitude towards Agri-drones. However, a significant number of farmers expressed difficulty in understanding the drones’ technology. Most farmers exhibited knowledge about Agri-drones to a moderate scale and have medium to high level of knowledge, which clearly indicates that Mann Ki Baat program has influenced and enriched farmers with respect to the knowledge related to Agri- Drones. The socio-economic characteristics of farmers were found to have significant and positive relationship with the knowledge level. The insights gained from this present study may help policy makers and researchers in effective planning and execution of programmes on adaptive capacity development of farmers, making them more aware and knowledgeable to strengthen the adoption of drone technology in agriculture.