: Brother-Sister Duo Develop Agri-Drones, Help Hundreds Of Farmers Reap 40% More Yield #IndiaNEWS #Kerala For Devika and Devan Chandrasekharan, the smell of soil evokes many childhood memories. Born

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Brother-Sister Duo Develop Agri-Drones, Help Hundreds Of Farmers Reap 40% More Yield #IndiaNEWS #Kerala
For Devika and Devan Chandrasekharan, the smell of soil evokes many childhood memories. Born into a farming family in Alappuzha, the siblings have always been fascinated by green fields and homegrown agricultural products.
But innovating a solution to benefit hundreds of farmers was never really on the cards. Devika pursued a degree in electrical and electronics engineering, while Devan went for aeronautical engineering. But after the Kerala floods in 2018, they knew it was time to take stock of the devastation the disaster had caused to the farming community.
“Farmers were among those worst hit by the floods. Kerala’s land, which is generally fertile, was destroyed due to the removal of topsoil, and reaping good yields became an unattainable goal. Our mission was to aid them with a useful innovation,� Devan tells The Better India.
And so, in 2020, they formed Fuselage Innovations, a startup that provides agricultural aerial plant surveys and sprays fertilisers with drones, which the founders say results in maximum utilisation of resources and better production.
Drones are used for spraying fertilisers in farms.
The company manufactures customised Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, for plant mapping and aerial spraying. “The days of scouting crop health manually is a thing of the past. Aerial surveys deliver valuable data quickly and autonomously. Fuselages dedicated high-precision UAV built for various activities including agriculture missions, soil monitoring, and vegetation management. Aerial Spraying UAV crafted for the optimum smart agriculture solution to support higher payload, optimises the cost-effectiveness of crop ultra low volume nutrient spraying, accurately and safely delivers more in less time,� says Devan.
The startup conducts a thorough analysis of soil types, crops, and required nutrients, to create these drones. For this, they conduct direct farm visits.
The drones are suitable for fertilising large scale farmlands like tea plantations.
Devan says aerial spraying UAVs are capable of covering up to 50 acres in a day with the minimum resources. Fuselage charges Rs 5,000 per acre and manufactures both agricultural and FPV (first-person view) drones.
“I have worked as a freelancer for similar projects. Devika is into business, so she handles that part completely. The innovation was challenging at the beginning but was favoured with grants, funds, and recognition at needed times. Everything fell into place and now we can help more than 370 farmers across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra,� the 26-year-old says.
Devan with the drone he developed.
“Fuselage is the first startup in Kerala to hold permits from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Civil Aviation,� he adds.

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