Agriculture drone comes to the rescue of farmers in Jilin

In Gudianzi township of Jilin city, Jilin province, Zheng Qiyuan's drone team has been quite busy during the recent crop planting season.

Wearing a straw hat, the 20-year-old junior at Jilin Mechanical Industry School occasionally looked up to observe the farmland's terrain while inputting operational parameters for the drone into his phone. The agricultural drone then took off and flew toward a vast cornfield to spread fertilizer.

The operation on 0.4 hectares of land took only 3 minutes, earning praise from his customer, Liu Guosheng.

"Without the help of the drone, my wife and I would have had to labor in the fields for over two days," he said.

"The drone helped save time and effort, and the fertilizer application is more precise."

With 2 years of experience at Jilin Qihang UAV Co, Zheng has become a key pilot for the company. "To be a qualified agricultural drone pilot, one must be familiar with the aircraft's performance and operation, as well as be able to plan flight routes, payload amounts and charging times," he said.

"Over the past 2 years, I have progressed rapidly due to lots of practice and study."

Founded in 2021, the company now has seven employees, mainly composed of graduates from Jilin Machinery Industry School, with an average age of less than 30.

"Our company is mainly engaged in sales of Jifei agricultural UAV, after-sales maintenance, UAV plant protection services, farmland surveying and mapping," said Ma Chao, founder of the company. "Our professional agricultural drone team has achieved annual operations over 6,667 hectares with 500 metric tons of fertilizer."

The farmers gradually accepted drone technology as they witnessed its effectiveness, added Ma, who is also a teacher at Jilin Mechanical Industry School. Initially, he said, farmers were hesitant to adopt the new technology.

"When drones were first used for pesticide spraying, each drone carried 20 kilograms, which could cover 1 hectare of farmland and led to skepticism among farmers who were accustomed to manually carrying 30-kilogram sprayers that could cover one-fifteenth of a hectare," he said.

"However, through promotional efforts and collaboration with agricultural suppliers, our company managed to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of drone-based spraying, gaining farmers' trust and increasing demand for their services."

Last year, the company extended its business to sell agricultural drones to nearby farmers.

In recent months, the company has sold over 30 drones.

At present, he said, agricultural drones are priced around 40,000 to 50,000 yuan ($5,600 to $7,000) which is within reach of most households, especially with government subsidies available.

Jilin is a major grain-producing province in China. Last year, the province's grain output exceeded 40 million tons for three consecutive years, ranking fourth nationwide. The average yield reached 7.18 tons per hectare, top among major grain-producing regions in the country.

The robust agricultural foundation has spurred the development of related industries.

Chen Weiliang, 28, is a core member of the drone team, serving as a pilot and maintenance technician.

"Drones are evolving rapidly, especially with the proliferation of AI and smart technologies, leading to increasingly sophisticated features," said Chen. "Therefore, it requires continuous learning and self-improvement. I firmly believe in the bright future of drone technology as it gradually becomes more market-oriented, akin to traditional agriculture."

Since last year, the members of the team have provided training courses for over 200 local farmers, with several becoming professional pilots and starting businesses in nearby towns.

"There is a great demand for drone professionals, so we need more pilots and more equipment," Ma said.

"The concept of the low-altitude economy is gaining traction, attracting many young people interested in pursuing a career in drone technology."