More than 30 drones can complete 80,000 mu of wheat plant protection operations in the township in about 3 days. This is the drone "achievement" of the plant protection drone team in Zhaoqiao Township, Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, during the wheat flowering period in April every year.
In order to seize the farming time, nearly 40 pilots control 50 to 70 kg plant protection drones to fly over the vast wheat fields, spraying pesticides efficiently to ensure that wheat plant protection operations are completed in time during the flowering period and prevent wheat from fusarium wilt.
"Originally, farmers could only complete 10 to 15 mu of pesticide spraying per day. Now a plant protection drone can reach about 1,000 mu of work per day. The villagers all praise the high quality of the work, no missed spraying, no repeated spraying." Jiao Rui, the 33-year-old captain of the plant protection drone team, praised the field practice of drones.
On March 19, 2024, at the unmanned farm in Shuanglou Village, Zhaoqiao Township, Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, agricultural drones automatically sprayed pesticides according to pre-set routes.
In Bozhou City, where Jiao Rui is located, there are currently nearly 3,000 plant protection drones in use. In the country, the number of plant protection drones in 2024 will reach 251,000, and the operating area will reach 2.67 billion mu, an increase of nearly 25% year-on-year. These "all-round players" that integrate pest control, fertilization, sowing, pollination, and field inspections "show their skills" in the fields, effectively improving the efficiency of agricultural production.
The Central Document No. 1 for 2025, which was recently released, proposed for the first time that scientific and technological innovation should lead the gathering of advanced production factors and develop new agricultural productivity in accordance with local conditions.
“Agriculture and rural areas are fertile ground for the development of new productivity.” Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Central Finance Office in charge of daily work and director of the Central Rural Work Office, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the 24th that, for example, drones are widely used in the field of plant protection, and mechanized and automated farming and harvesting are also accelerating their popularization. Modern biotechnology, artificial intelligence, low-altitude economy, etc. have broad development prospects in the field of agriculture and rural areas.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the market size of China's "low-altitude economy" will reach 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025, and is expected to reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.
From agricultural plant protection to forest fire prevention, water conservancy inspections, rural logistics, cultural tourism development... low-altitude economy brings more possibilities for "improving quality and efficiency" in rural development.
In Xianju County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, drones transported bayberries down the mountain, and the transportation time was shortened from more than half an hour to two or three minutes; in the rural areas of Xichang City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, drones "joined hands" with deicing robots to complete the deicing of UHV transmission lines; in Yaoxiang Village, Jiangsu Province, "aerial inspections" have added "smart wings" to the improvement of the living environment in the village.
"In addition to agricultural planting and social service links, the low-altitude economic industry and the "three rural issues" are combined in multiple scenarios, and are gradually becoming a new engine for rural revitalization and industrial upgrading. "Low-altitude economy +" has also brought together more possibilities. In addition, through real-time monitoring, key information such as forest fire risks and environmental quality can be grasped in a timely manner, providing a safer and more stable environment for agricultural production." Zhang Jian, a professor at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China, recently published an article.
On April 27, 2024, in Houkeng Village, Xinming Township, Huangshan District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, Xiang Fan, a new farmer born in the 1990s, operated a carrier drone to transport goods in the mountainous area (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Yu
In Hongqi Village, Yuexi County, Anqing City, Anhui Province, a typical Chinese mountain village, a small or medium-sized white drone automatically flies out from the nest every morning to start the day's mission.
Equipped with a high-definition camera, an infrared camera and a loudspeaker, the drone first spends 40 minutes patrolling the forest conditions of 15 square kilometers along the set route. After returning fully charged, it goes to the home of an elderly widow on the mountain, and uses the loudspeaker to allow village staff to communicate and inquire with the elderly in real time. During the summer flood season, its task list will also include a "river patrol".
Since the pilot was launched in August last year, as of February 27 this year, the drones in Hongqi Village have patrolled a total of 1,422.95 kilometers, and found more than 30 potential dangers, all of which were properly handled as soon as possible.
“It used to take two forest rangers a whole day to patrol the forest on a motorcycle. It also took an hour and a half to drive to the mountains to visit the lonely elderly. Rural manpower is limited, and new technologies such as drones can effectively improve work efficiency.” Shi Yongshi, the head of the Road Transport Management Section of the Anqing Municipal Transportation Bureau, who serves as the first secretary of Hongqi Village, said that they also plan to further upgrade drone technology and promote it in more rural areas.
Promoting the layout of low-altitude economy "going to the countryside" is becoming a consensus in more and more regions in China. Zhejiang Province proposed that by 2027, the province will have more than 10,000 agricultural drones and build 100 integrated intelligent monitoring points for agricultural production "low altitude + ground"; Guangdong Province promoted the large-scale application of low-altitude logistics and distribution in cities, villages, mountainous areas, and islands, focusing on expanding cross-sea high-value seafood transportation, shipping material supply, rapid transfer of medical supplies, and transportation of agricultural products in mountainous areas; Anhui Province proposed to explore the integration of drones into the three-level delivery network system of counties, villages, and towns, and develop emerging logistics methods such as drone delivery and inter-city transportation...
"The vast countryside has a broad stage. The low-altitude economy has a long industrial chain and huge potential, and is a new carrier of new agricultural productivity." Zhang Jian said that at present, the cultivation of new agricultural productivity should be a combination of policies, markets, and industries, accelerate the development of digital agriculture, gather high-end elements of modern science and technology, and create low-altitude multi-scenes according to local conditions.
