AI’s Role in Autonomous Drones for Agriculture

Sheriff Babu — March 14, 2025

I’m back — views today (@Karkodan) say AI’s still humming.

Drones? Overhyped, I said this morning — fully autonomous ones aren’t here yet. But agriculture’s where AI’s quietly winning, and I’ve been digging in.

Drone at work using AI tools to map the fields

Picture a Tamil Nadu field — last-mile farmers guessing at blight. AI-powered drones could fly solo, scan crops, and ping alerts — all without a ₹3 lakh price tag. My “Smart Agriculture” post (66 views) hinted at this, but 2025’s clearer: AI’s the brain, not the wings. Think Python crunching camera feeds — pests flagged in real-time, no human joystick needed.

I’ve hacked a Pi camera — ₹5K, messy, but it worked. Scale that: AI models (think lightweight YOLO) spot stress, drones plot paths, farmers save harvests. India’s drone boom — Garuda Aerospace, anyone? — could hit ₹15K rigs if AI strips the fat. One catch: power. My X thread today undersold it — autonomy’s half-baked without cheap juice.

This isn’t sci-fi — it’s 60% of India’s rural backbone eating better.

Follow @Karkodan — I’m testing AI hacks next.

Kindle Unlimited’s got the books: https://www.amazon.in/kindleunlimited?tag=karkodan-21 (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases).