IoTechWorld secures IFFCO's order for 500 agri drones

Leading agri-drone maker IoTechWorld Avigation Pvt Ltd has emerged as leader in IFFCO drone project by securing a big contract from the cooperative major to supply 500 drones to be primarily used for spraying nano liquid urea and DAP.

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans to procure 2,500 drones for spraying its products nano urea and nano DAP (Diammonium Phosphate). IFFCO also plans to create 5,000 rural entrepreneurs, who would be trained for spraying via drones. Gurugram-headquartered IoTechWorld, manufacturer of India’s first DGCA-type certified drone ‘AGRIBOT’, has been Co-Founded by Deepak Bhardwaj and Anoop Upadhyay. IoTechWorld Avigation is also backed by leading agritech company Dhanuka Agritech Ltd.

“We are indeed privileged to receive single biggest order for purchase of Krishi-drones from IFFCO. The company will deliver 500 drones to IFFCO by December 2023,” said Co-Founder Upadhyay. He further said that since IoTechWorld’s inception, the endeavour has been to promote technological innovation in the field of agriculture and the company is the pioneer of Krishi-drones in the country.

Elaborating on the large supply order from IFFCO, Co-founder Bhardwaj said the drone market is rapidly growing and there has been a tremendous demand from various companies including fertiliser and pesticides companies as well as from rural entrepreneurs including farmers. “Our AGRIBOT (krishi drone) have been especially designed and programmed for fertilisers. The order from IFFCO is a testament of our strength in the agri-drone segment. Our target is to help farmers and agri entrepreneurs in implementation of 'Made in India' Nano Urea and Nano DAP -- newly launched by IFFCO,” he said.

Besides IFFCO, IoTechWorld Avigation has also partnered with agrochemical company Syngenta, a company pressnote said. “We are expecting 5-6 times more demand in the current fiscal compared to last year with target of selling more than 3,000 drone in 2023-24. We are also exploring opportunities for exports. The Government’s recent decision to liberalise the export policy for drones opens up a gamut of opportunity, and there is a huge demand in overseas markets,” Upadhyay added. The company is also in discussion for exporting drones in regions like SAARC, South East Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Oman, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, and Africa, which are the focus countries of IoTech export sales.

The company is also extensively working on creating awareness about the benefits of using drones in agriculture. IoTech has set up several remote pilot training organisations where people are trained to fly drones. The company along with its partners is also focusing on creating village level entrepreneurs and helping in establishing remote pilot training organisation across the country, he added.