BATHINDA, Aug. 18 -- Trained as drone pilots under the Centre's project NAMO Drone Didis to spray pesticides and fertilisers in fields using unmanned flying devices, enterprising rural women of Punjab have started earning from the ambitious venture.

A handful of women trained for the project are moving village to village to make farmers aware of the benefits of using drones for spraying pesticides and fertilizers, and see a wide potential to improve their economic conditions.

Replying to a query by Lok Sabha MP Parshottambhai Rupala in July, the Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers' welfare, Ramnath Thakur, stated that of the 14,500 drones approved under the central scheme, a total of 1,021 have been allocated to Punjab, ...