--- title: "Odisha’s Drone Didi helps 960 farmers cut costs and earn more" url: https://projectchintan.com/article/odishas-drone-didi-farmer-cooperative-s021t publisher: Project Chintan author: Project Chintan Newsroom section: Society published: 2026-08-27T03:30:30.823Z modified: 2026-08-27T05:30:04.919Z language: en-IN --- # Odisha’s Drone Didi helps 960 farmers cut costs and earn more In Khordha district, Kumudini Swain leads Maheera FPCL, a women-led farmer collective that uses drone spraying to reduce labour and chemical exposure. The group grew from two acres to a 960-member collective with over Rs 1 crore in annual turnover. ## Key takeaways - A pandemic-driven pivot led Kumudini Swain to form Maheera FPCL, a 960-member farmer collective. - Drone spraying enables faster, wider-field fertiliser application, reducing labour intensity. - Initial capital came from farmer shares and a loan, with institutional support aiding scale. ## What Happened In Sirampur village, Khordha district, a drone is used to spray fertiliser over crops, a task previously done with a heavy backpack sprayer. The drone spraying takes about six minutes per acre and can cover up to 25 acres in a day. The initiative centers on Kumudini Swain, known as Odisha’s ‘Drone Didi,’ who turned a pandemic-era livelihood shift into a larger farming enterprise. After losing work during COVID-19 and returning to farming with her husband, the family began cultivating vegetables on two acres. This experience spurred Kumudini to organize neighbors into a cooperative that expanded into Maheera Farmer Producer Company Limited (FPCL), now comprising 960 members, with a focus on women farmers. The cooperative received support from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Khordha and NGO NIGAM, helping mobilise farmers, many of them women, to pool resources, access training, and pursue better inputs and markets. Initial capital consisted of Rs 5 lakh raised through share contributions and a loan from Samunnati Finance, with the funds used to lease land, develop a 12,000 square-foot mushroom unit, plant fruit trees, and establish a poultry shed. As membership grew, the collective expanded its operations and now reports an annual turnover exceeding Rs 1 crore. About seven in ten members are women, and around six in ten are young farmers. In the early phase, Kumudini financed some of the initial outreach herself to build trust among farmers who were hesitant to invest in the new collective. The transformation from using heavy pesticide tanks to deploying drones marks a shift in how farming is organized and carried out by the group. ## Why It Matters The model demonstrates how women-led farmer groups can leverage shared resources to modernize cultivation practices, reduce costs, and increase profitability. The drone technology represents a significant efficiency gain: spraying time per acre has dropped from traditional methods to a fraction of the previous duration, enabling a larger daily reach for the cooperative. By pooling capital and access to inputs, the collective aims to improve bargaining power, training access, and market options for its members, many of whom previously faced limited opportunities and precarious livelihoods after the pandemic disrupted employment. ## Background Kumudini Swain previously worked in Odisha’s dairy sector, including at Milk Mantra and Sundarani Dairy. When the COVID-19 lockdown affected her job, she and her husband returned to their two-acre farmland and started vegetable cultivation as a survival strategy. This experience led to the idea of forming a structured farmer group to address broader farming challenges in their village and surrounding areas. ## Key Facts - Location: Sirampur village, Khordha district, Odisha - Leader: Kumudini Swain, dubbed Odisha’s ‘Drone Didi’ - Current collective size: 960 members - Gender/age: ~70% women; ~60% young farmers - Production shift: drone spraying replaces older heavy pesticide tanks - Daily capacity: drone can spray up to 25 acres in a day; six minutes per acre - Initial capital: Rs 5 lakh from farmer shares + loan from Samunnati Finance - Assets: leased five acres, 12,000 sq ft mushroom unit, fruit trees, poultry shed - Turnover: annual turnover over Rs 1 crore - Support: Krishi Vigyan Kendra Khordha and NGO NIGAM ## What Happens Next The reporting does not specify explicit next steps beyond the ongoing expansion and operations of Maheera FPCL, but the described support network and infrastructure investments imply continued scaling and potential enhancements in input access, training, and market linkages for member farmers. --- Canonical: https://projectchintan.com/article/odishas-drone-didi-farmer-cooperative-s021t Reported from: Multiple Sources