Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Govindarajulu Chintala visited Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) here on Tuesday. He visited several wings of the university.

According to university officials, the NABARD chairman first visited the AgriHub innovation centre and interacted with representatives of the start-up companies and Vice Chancellor of the university V. Praveen Rao. He then visited the millet incubation centre, rice research centre of the Agricultural Research Institute on the campus.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university explained the research activity being carried out in the rice research centre. The scientists there explained the use of drone technology in different stages of paddy cultivation. Use of drones in spraying pesticides on paddy and estimation of various types of paddy extent was also explained to the NABARD chief.

Further, they explained the ‘Telangana Sona’ (RNR 15048), a superfine rice variety with low glycemic index. Mr. Govindarajulu also watched live demonstration of broadcasting method (with the help of drones) of paddy cultivation. He enquired about the other paddy varieties developed by the university and the varieties in pipeline.

Mr. Govindarajulu enquired about saving time and money with the use of drone technology in paddy cultivation. Chief General Manager of NABARD Y.K. Rao, and Research Director of PJTSAU R. Jagadeeshwar participated.