Leading agrochemical firm Dhanuka Agritech on Tuesday announced it has signed an MoU with Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (GBPUA&T) to jointly conduct research in crop protection chemicals along with the application of drones, artificial intelligence and machine learning in agriculture.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Director of Experiment Station, Dr. Ajeet Singh Nain on behalf of the university, while Dr. Ajeet Singh Tomar, vice president (R&D) signed on behalf of Dhanuka Agritech.
Through this partnership, Dhanuka Agritech and the University aim to boost farmers’ income by enhancing crop productivity and production. The company and the university will jointly conduct research activities in the field of crop protection chemicals.
The objective of the MoU includes organising awareness programmes for carrying out agri extension services. Farmers will be encouraged to use modern agriculture technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI), and precision agriculture. Under the MoU, Dhanuka Agritech will participate and sponsor the university’s conference and will give scholarships to PG students.
Elaborating the partnership with GB Pant University, RG Agarwal, Group Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech said, “The tie-up with an institution like GB Pant University will help us promote research activities in the agriculture and allied activities. For this purpose, we will also provide scholarships to meritorious to PG students who are involved in the research work.”
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“We will also participate and sponsor the conference and farmers’ training programme in association with GB Pant University,” Agarwal added.
The university will conduct demonstration and adaptive trials of new molecules and products of Dhanuka at its farms as well as farmers’ fields and will consider the inclusion of the findings (active ingredient only) into the package of practices.
The MoU aims to promote the use of AI and ML techniques for providing expert advisory to farmers. The emphasis will be on the use of drone technology in agriculture.
Recently, the Centre has released the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for use of drone applications to spray agrochemicals.
Dhanuka will sponsor bio-efficacy and phytotoxicity projects to the university for managing insects and pests through drone application. Dhanuka’s R&D Division has world-class NABL accredited laboratories.
The company has international collaborations with seven of the world’s leading agrochemical companies including the US, Japan, and Europe.
