Chinese drone maker DJI launches new agricultural drone

Chinese drone maker DJI unveiled a new drone for agriculture on Tuesday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. 

The T20 agricultural drone is equipped with an omnidirectional obstacle-avoidance radar, which enables it to identify obstacles in farmland areas and be operated at a fixed flight altitude. 

It can also overcome obstacles posed by ambient light and dust with a real-time image-monitoring system and a night searchlight. 

The drone can cover an area of 180 mu (12 hectares) per hour, up 20 percent compared to the former generation, said Chen Tao, DJI agriculture sales director.

Over the past year, DJI has created more than 30,000 new jobs in the Chinese agricultural market and pushed many young people to return home to start businesses. 

DJI's agricultural products currently perform well in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Southeast Asia and Latin America, while the company is planning further expansion. 

According to Skylogic Research, a drone analyst company, the Chinese drone manufacturer holds more than 70 percent of the worldwide civil drone market share.