China leads world with over 300,000 agricultural drones
(ECNS) -- China has more than 300,000 agricultural drones, ranking first globally, with an annual operating area exceeding 30 million hectares, CCTV Finance reported on Wednesday, citing data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Agricultural drones have become a major tool for crop protection in China, operating more than 20 times as efficiently as traditional manual labor while reducing water consumption by more than 50% and pesticide use by 20% to 40%.
As the autumn harvest enters a critical stage, farmers in Huangyan District, Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, are receiving training in agricultural drone operations.
Among them is Wang Zhiliang, 63, who is learning theory, flight operations and maintenance alongside other trainees born in the 1960s. He hopes to obtain a drone pilot license to improve the efficiency and precision of rice farming.
Wang said drones are faster and more effective than manual pesticide spraying. Hiring two workers to spray about 3 hectares of farmland costs about 450 yuan in wages, while drone operations cost 280 yuan (about $42).
Huang Ning, a Taizhou farmer who manages 13 hectares of melon fields in southwest China's Yunnan Province, said drones can replace manual labor in fertilization and short-distance transportation, improving overall efficiency by 40% to 50% amid labor shortages during peak farming seasons.
Wang Haili, head of a local drone technology company, said training for plant-protection drone operators currently costs about 3,000 yuan.
Beyond pesticide spraying, drones are increasingly used for irrigation, fertilization and agricultural transportation, helping reduce labor costs.
At a water bamboo cooperative in Huangyan's Guan'ao Village, drones can complete pesticide spraying and fertilizer application across 33 hectares of water bamboo fields in a single day.
Jiang Liangzhen, deputy director of the cooperative, said drone operations can save 5,000 to 6,000 yuan per pesticide spraying session, reducing annual labor costs by 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.
During summer, when crop diseases and pests are more prevalent, nighttime pesticide spraying can be more effective. Drones allow round-the-clock operations even though nighttime workers are hard to recruit, helping maintain crop yields and quality.
In mountainous areas, drones are also being used to transport freshly picked oranges downhill.
Wang Tianbao, who runs a local orange farm, said the average market price for a particular variety of oranges is slightly more than 6 yuan per kilogram, while his oranges can sell for nearly 12 yuan per kilogram because they are freshly picked, sold immediately and taste better.
Nie Pengcheng, director of the ecological and environmental planning department at Zhejiang University's Institute of New Rural Development, said increasingly intelligent drones are promoting agricultural machinery services and creating new jobs.
However, he said two major challenges remain: a structural shortage of qualified drone operators and the need to improve operational standards and quality assessment criteria.
As agricultural drone applications expand, low-altitude equipment is evolving from an experimental tool into standard equipment for agricultural services.
（By Helen Mo & intern Alvin)