World’s first delivery of animal vaccines by drone done in Arunachal Pradesh

For the first time in the world drones have been used to transport animal vaccines and this feat has been achieved by the Hyderabad-based vaccine developer Indian Immunologicals Limited. Vaccines against the foot and mouth disease were moved through drones from Roing to Paglam in Arunachal Pradesh.

A total of 1,000 doses of Raksha Ovac vaccine against the FMD were delivered.

To implement this, IIL collaborated with the State’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the drone service provider TechEagle.

The aerial distance between Roing and Paglam is 29 kilometres and the drone covered it in 20 minutes while the distance by road is 120 km and it takes 4 hours to complete. Thus, the indigenously developed hybrid drone – Vertiplane X3 – delivered the vaccine 12 times faster than ground transportation.

The drone can fly at a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour for 100 km in single charge. While taking off vertically like a helicopter, it can convert automatically into fixed-wing mode for travelling larger distances with greater speed. It can be used to transport anything weighing up to 3 kg.

The drone mode of delivery of vaccines will enable access to remote difficult terrains faster and also provide critical vaccines on time for the protection of livestock from several diseases.

The event was inaugurated by Tage Taki, the State’s Minister of Agriculture.