Bananas hanging onto drones: See how the low-altitude economy matches with agriculture

BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on China's low-altitude economy:

As sunset dawns upon the mountains, some drones are still shuttling assiduously. While, hanging onto them, are nothing but bundles of freshly picked bananas. The video of drones and the dangling bananas has gone viral on Chinese social media. Many netizens exclaimed: "So, this is how we use drones now?"

Actually, this is not the drones' debut in China's agriculture. Since the first commercial plant protection drone in 2010, drones have played an increasingly pivotal role in this field, most often shouldering protection work such as pesticide spraying, just like its initial role in agriculture. Huang Rixie, a farmer from Guangxi province tried drones for the first time last year for the end-to-end plant protection of his mangos, which turned out to be a pleasing experience: What used to take four days and six workers, was finished within one day by drones. Thanks to the precision and efficiency of drones, pests and diseases were effectively prevented before their high-occurrence rainy season, guaranteeing Huang a big harvest, with a nearly 25% increase in production per mu compared to the previous year.

Besides, using drones instead of manpower can effectively protect farmers from the poisonous effect of pesticides. According to a drone pilot from Yunnan, when people spray pesticides manually, they must wear layer after layer for protection, with face masks and hats on; when the heat is grilling, it's hard to keep garments on. Many workers are also allergic to the chemicals. "Now with a drone, all our troubles are gone."

As the technology iterates, the need for the more customized and intelligent application of drones has also been rising. Nowadays, agricultural drones can be used in more scenarios, such as targeted sowing, fertilizing, monitoring plant growth, as well as sending alarms and rescuing.

What we mentioned at the beginning is using drones for transportation. In the past, the difficult terrain in mountainous areas poses challenges for agricultural machines, so manpower is the only way to ship the products out. Such low efficiency is compounded by the risk of injury — the carriers tend to be fairly aged, and too heavy a bag may lead to falls that cause harm to both people and fruits. But with drone transportation, the chances of bruising fruits went down by two-thirds. Last year, Zigui County, which is famous for agriculture, saved local farmers 30 million RMB by using drone transportation alone.

Technology has brought welfare to the people. Up flew bananas and oranges, and down went the weight on people's backs in mountains. Dropped down were seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, and soaring high are yields, efficiency and profits. The advent and now prevalent application of drones have meant more methods and opportunities for those in the agricultural sector, both traditional and new.

In 2024, the "low-altitude economy" was written into the Report on the Work of the Government for the first time. It indicates continuous efforts in this regard, supporting the high-quality and integrated development of the "low-altitude economy" that has lit up other fields including agriculture.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

Bananas hanging onto drones: See how the low-altitude economy matches with agriculture
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2025-01/10/content_117657354.htm 

SOURCE China.org.cn