UAV flight defense, a new battlefield for new farmers

Digital agriculture, precision agriculture, and smart agriculture are moving from ideal to reality step by step.

Recently, the fifth episode of the large-scale industrial documentary "Foundation of a Strong Country", "Chasing Dreams", jointly produced by China Central Radio and Television and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was broadcast on the CCTV Financial Channel, which showed the The strength of scientific and technological innovation in the field of smart agriculture and the story of empowering rural youth to pursue their dreams and start businesses.

How to make young people willing to engage in agricultural production? How to make agriculture regain its competitiveness? Promoting the redistribution of the agricultural value chain through unmanned technology is at least one of the current directions of the industry's efforts.

Drone flight defense is an important variable that technology empowers traditional agriculture.

UAV flight defense can not only realize the separation of humans and machines, and the separation of humans and drugs, and avoid the poisoning of pesticides on the human body, but also can greatly improve efficiency through fully autonomous operations. At present, drones have penetrated into all aspects of crop sowing, fertilization, pesticide spraying, etc., and the scope of operations has also extended from low crops in related fields to tall crops and cash crops.

What is the current situation of UAV plant protection? What are the new development trends and developments in the near future? What are the current shortcomings? What will it mean for the future of smart agriculture in our country?

"Tanke Tanker" contacted relevant experts, plant protection teams and important manufacturers in the industry to get a glimpse of the role of intelligent products represented by drones in agricultural industrialization in the context of rural revitalization. and play an important role in promoting digitalization.

Among the applications in the UAV industry, plant protection and aerial defense is undoubtedly the most developed field so far. According to data from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, in my country's civil drone market in 2020, agriculture, forestry and plant protection drones accounted for the largest proportion, reaching 42%, which is much higher than the proportion of drones in power inspection, logistics and transportation, and security. proportion.

“Agricultural plant protection is one of the biggest problems in agricultural production, because the time of spraying pesticides coincides with the high-temperature season of agricultural production, coupled with the aging of agricultural workers in our country, and the risk of poisoning caused by unreasonable use of pesticides, future use of pesticides will The main development direction of spray robots is to replace manual work, realize human-machine separation, human-drug separation, and improve efficiency," said He Xiongkui, dean of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Research Institute of China Agricultural University and director of the Pharmaceutical Equipment and Application Technology Research Center of China Agricultural University. The professor said to "Tanker".

Currently, plant protection and aerial defense are developing rapidly, closely following the development trend of agriculture. In addition to the good adaptability of plant protection drones to various terrains, drones can spray pesticides without crushing the ground, without contacting crops, and without causing damage. These are all drones. Its advantages are also one of the important reasons why it attracts young people to return to their hometowns to farm.

Wang Bingnan, who was born in 1960, has been working on the front line in Xinjiang for many years. He believes that drone plant protection has a significant effect on young people's farming. "Nowadays, many farmers no longer want to spray pesticides manually, and prefer to use drones more and more, even if it is only three to five acres of land."

Wang Bingnan used to be a teacher and a correctional cadre, and later started to engage in agricultural work. capital. In 2013, when he went to Korla, where cotton is grown on a large scale, he discovered that people there died of pesticide poisoning every year. After learning about the relevant situation, he and his friends conducted a market survey and found that the business of using drones to replace manpower to spray pesticides has development prospects. After that, he and his friends set up a company, starting from plant protection and also selling pesticide and fertilizer seeds.

"The emergence of smart agricultural production tools such as agricultural drones has gradually changed the 'facing the loess and back to the sky' production model in the traditional agricultural management process, replacing the traditional dangerous and complicated production methods with high-tech equipment. Manual labor allows farmers to no longer have to worry about the hard work of farming," Gong Yaoqin, co-founder of XAG Technology, told "Tanke Tanker".

In his view, with the popularization and application of intelligent equipment such as agricultural drones, emerging jobs such as drone pilots and drone instructors have emerged in rural areas, bringing opportunities to rural young people. More new and respectable career options are coming, making young people willing to stay in the countryside. More importantly, as product technology becomes more intelligent and the threshold for use is lowered, more and more older farmers, led by young people, are beginning to use agricultural drones for operations.

"As far as I know, the age range of people using XAG's agricultural drones ranges from young men in their 20s to 60-year-old farmers," Gong Yaoqin said.

Recently, the "Chasing Dreams" chapter of CCTV's large-scale industrial documentary "The Cornerstone of a Strong Country" reported the stories of young people who returned to their hometowns. One of the protagonists, Yan Wenjiong, was born in 1996. After returning from the army, he joined the Unmanned Industry In the mechanical plant protection industry, this year he led the team to obtain a million-acre wheat unified control order from the local county government through social bidding.

Because he has to complete the task within a week, he has to dispatch more than 200 agricultural drones to operate simultaneously every day to complete the plant protection task of 100,000 acres.

"Every time during the wheat unified defense rule, in Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi and other wheat areas, there were more than 100 new farmers like Yan Wenjiong, who dispatched tens of thousands of machines day and night. Agricultural drones, connected with tens of thousands of pilots and farmers, protect the safety of China's granary," said Gong Yaoqin.

Picture / Yan Wenjiong in plant protection operations

Strengthening agricultural technology and equipment support, building smart agriculture, and comprehensively promoting rural revitalization are also the themes of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

In 2021, the Central Committee's "No. 1 Document" proposed the new goal of "strengthening modern agricultural science and technology and material equipment support", improve the independent research and development capabilities of agricultural machinery equipment, support the research and development and manufacturing of high-end intelligent, hilly and mountainous agricultural machinery equipment, and accelerate the development and manufacturing of agricultural machinery equipment in hilly and mountainous areas. Increase purchase subsidies and carry out agricultural machinery operation subsidies.

"China has nearly 2 billion acres of arable land. Although the comprehensive mechanization rate of farming and harvesting exceeds 70%, there are still weak links, industries and regions, such as plant protection for small and medium-sized fields, plant protection for mountain orchards, etc. Fan Wenze, DJI Agriculture Marketing Director, told Tanker.

He believes that compared with ground machinery, agricultural drones not only have high efficiency, but also have the advantages of strong terrain adaptability and high level of intelligence. The popularization of drones, especially in areas with weak mechanization, can improve the overall mechanization and automation level of agricultural "seed management".

In the view of Ye Wencheng, Secretary-General of the Central Plains Plant Protection Alliance, the lack of attractiveness of traditional agriculture to young people has always been an important issue hindering agricultural development. Ye Wencheng believes that one of the keys to "rural revitalization" is "Talent revitalization", but can smart equipment such as drones alone attract talents to return and generate enthusiasm for farming among young people? Not really.

“Everyone knows that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or big cities are particularly attractive, and everyone is very enthusiastic about these cities, but what attracts people is never the high-rise buildings in the city, but the development inside the city. The opportunity is to make money in these cities. Following this idea, in the future, if rural areas want to attract young people, they must also rely on development opportunities and let everyone see that they can make money in agriculture." Ye Wencheng said.

In his view, although there is a lot of space for agriculture and there must be many opportunities, rural revitalization has just begun. “We are just a group of people closest to opportunities, but we must learn to look for and discover opportunities. ”

Today, plant protection drones have tilted from high price threshold to cost price. The industry threshold has been continuously lowered. Industry giants have gradually become clear. DJI and XAG have become the “double players” of drone plant protection. Giant".

Fan Wenze, DJI Agriculture Marketing Director, said that as of September 29, 2021, the annual operating area of ??DJI plant protection machines exceeded 1 billion acres, with a growth rate of more than 90%. The achievement of this data means that drones will not only become popular in large fields in the north, but also be used on a large scale in small and medium-sized fields in the south. This is the general situation of DJI plant protection machines in spraying applications.

Picture / DJI plant protection machine operation site

In terms of sowing and fruit tree applications, there are also traces of DJI drones.

"This year, with the maturity of drone solid seeding technology, fertilizer spreading has achieved breakthroughs in Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and other regions. It is not only highly efficient, but also more uniform." Fan Wenze said that China only The rice planting area alone is 450 million acres. With the launch of a series of technologies, the sowing application market will enter a period of rapid popularity.

At present, drone seeding operations in Heilongjiang have exceeded 60 million acres, but in other large planting areas across the country, drone fertilizer seeding is still in the early stages of development.

Picture/DJI agricultural drones in operation

In terms of fruit tree applications, according to data provided by DJI Agriculture, China’s fruit tree planting area is approximately 200 million acres. The average annual operation scale will exceed 1.7 billion acres, which is a huge market.

"This year, with the improvement of spraying effect and optimization of operation process, fruit tree aerial control has also been widely used in Hainan, Guangxi, Jiangxi and other regions. Especially in Hainan, drones not only help Local mango orchards have realized fully automated operations, reducing manual labor and achieving a 30% reduction in pesticide use. With the implementation of a series of technology applications for orchard scenarios, this market will continue to enter a period of popularity," said Fan Wenze.

Picture/UAV dispensing site

According to "Tanke Tanker", plant protection operations involve many professional issues, such as different spraying methods for different crops. Likewise, if the pilot is unprofessional, it may affect the results of the operation.

"China has a vast territory and rich resources. Different crops are planted in various provinces and regions according to local conditions. The growth habits and management requirements of different crops are also different. This is an objective situation." Gong Yaoqin said that the intelligent technology developed and innovative by XAG Automated and unmanned agricultural science and technology products and technologies focus on the pain points in the "cultivation, management and harvesting" of different crops. These objectively existing pain points in agricultural production are also market opportunities for XAG.

Picture / XAG drones operating in cotton fields

For example, cotton, as one of the largest economic crops in my country, is also the starting point for XAG to enter agriculture. In 2013, the XAG team discovered in Xinjiang that agricultural drones can effectively play a significant role in cotton insecticide, weeding, chemical adjustment and other management links, and have broad market demand.

Therefore, starting from the verification of the technology on cotton, XAG subsequently became deeply involved in different pain points and scenarios in the production and management of the three major food crops of rice, corn, and wheat, including sowing, fertilizing, spraying pesticides, etc. Through the functional modular design of the product, intelligent tool replacement for different work scenarios is achieved.

"There is also a 'smile curve' in the agricultural value chain. The pre-production supply system and post-production sales and processing system at both ends have higher values, while the mid-production production system in the middle is a value depression." Gong Yaoqin express.

With the general rise in international grain prices, the state has increased policy support for the seed industry and agriculture, and seed companies in the upstream of the agricultural industry chain have occupied the high value position. As for the marketing and branding links located downstream of the industrial chain, as people's consumption patterns have changed from pure material consumption to cultural consumption, the market competition of agricultural products has also shifted from price competition, quality competition and service competition to brand competition, and the added value is also significant. rise.

However, the agricultural planting and breeding links in the middle reaches are still faced with the dilemma of low technological content, insufficient deep processing and low product quality. They have become the part with the lowest added value in the entire value chain and are at the end of the "smile curve". Bottom.

At present, as more and more agricultural science and technology products and technologies are implemented, on the one hand, they have improved production efficiency and can replace the heavy and repetitive work in the production process, reducing labor costs. On the other hand, because of advanced technology It brings more precise management and effectively saves hard costs such as agricultural inputs. The increase in hatchbacks reduces the overall cost of the midstream, and these reduced costs directly increase the income of farmers.

Picture/ XAG dual-rotor plant protection aircraft V40

It can be said that thanks to the large-scale use of new technologies in the agricultural field, the entire agricultural value chain will be more balanced, and at the same time , because the reduction of production costs will also help enhance the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture in the world.

Objectively speaking, as an important embodiment of smart agriculture, drone flight surveillance not only helps the management of agriculture, but is also reshaping the agricultural value chain. So, among these front-line operators and practitioners From the eyes of readers, how do you view the current status of the aerial plant protection industry?

Picture/UAV plant protection operations

In Ye Wencheng’s view, the UAV aerial defense industry has begun to take shape, and the development of plant protection teams can be divided into the following four Three models:

The first is the traditional "earning service fees through cross-region operations" model. Among them, experienced practitioners are familiar with the market, have relatively stable customer resources, and have stable development; while newbies in the industry are prone to being overly optimistic and unable to accept the cruelty of reality. They enter quickly and exit quickly, and more people lose money and run away.

The second is the "rooting in the local market" model. Among them, some people have passed through the painful period of transformation and are gradually surviving stably; others are in the painful period of transformation, but if they grit their teeth and persevere, they may gain something in the coming year.

The third is the "transformation and agricultural input cooperation" model. This is a compromise choice, but relying on others cannot maintain long-term stability.

The fourth is the model in which "original agricultural input dealers take the initiative to increase plant protection business". "This type of team operates in a relatively closed and independent manner and is not well known by everyone. However, this type of team is what the local teams should focus on learning. After all, they have been deeply involved in the agricultural supplies industry for many years and have relatively solid plant protection knowledge and ideas. Being relatively open-minded and proactively embracing new things will be an important force in the future aerial crop protection market," said Ye Wencheng.

However, he believes that from an overall industry perspective, the development of drone plant protection is not yet very mature. "To this day, we can still see a lot of pilots who cannot recognize the full names of medicines, and they know nothing about crop management. Therefore, compared with the iterative progress of equipment, the improvement of the professional level of practitioners is seriously lagging behind. This is why it is said that from The groups that have transformed original agricultural input dealers into aerial plant protection or introduced aerial plant protection business are worth learning from. ”

Picture/UAVs spraying pesticides on forests

Aerial pest control. Plant protection is a highly seasonal business, so people move from place to place - wherever there is work, cross-regional operations are still the main method of operation for most plant protection teams.

However, a small number of teams have now "come ashore" - starting to get rid of their dependence on flight defense fees or cross-regional operations, actively choosing to take root in the local market, having stable customer resources and Involving more agricultural machinery services and agricultural input sales, this is also the development model that Ye Wencheng's alliance has been vigorously promoting in the past two years.

At present, the number of closely connected pilots in the Central Plains Flying Plant Protection Alliance is maintained at around 200. These pilots are experienced and familiar with the market, and each of them has a small and tight-knit team around them. Through this, With 200 people connected, the number of aircraft that can respond quickly is conservatively estimated at more than 1,000.

"During the peak period of wheat operations, we can deploy more than 300 drones in one day, and the response speed is very fast." Ye Wencheng told "Tanke Tanker", "In fact, in the past two years, The accumulation speed of the old team and mature pilots has not fully kept up with the development of the industry. There are more people who are fast in and out, so we believe that seizing the core strength in the circle is the key. ”

In Wang Bingnan’s view, drones were originally high-tech products with relatively high thresholds. Now, because the entry threshold has been lowered, it has also affected the development of the industry. In particular, the price system for operations is chaotic, and the industry has not yet unified standards. "Due to the price confusion, the UAV industry gives people the impression that 'it's hard to make money.'"

For example, a plant protection team previously lowered the price of pesticides to 3 or 4 yuan per acre. This means that there is no money to be made at all, but it disrupts the price system of the industry.

He believes that it will take at least five or six years before the industry chaos is contained, and many things that are not conducive to development will be eliminated. “Originally, I planned to hold a drone pesticide training course, but now I can’t find a suitable sponsor or policy support.

”

In general, drone flight defense has played a significant role in my country’s smart agriculture strategy – allowing intelligent machines to replace human labor and freeing people’s working hands, thus Reduce agricultural production costs, improve production efficiency, innovate production methods, increase product output, and increase farmers' income... This also makes more young people willing to return to the countryside and become new farmers.

Today, as a new battlefield for new farmers, the UAV aerial defense industry has not only given birth to large-scale plant protection teams, but also the development and growth of UAV manufacturers and the expansion of the application scope of agricultural UAVs, all illustrate this The development of the industry is improving. But at the same time, the rapid development of the market has also produced a lot of chaos, and policy regulations and constraints are urgently needed to allow drone flight defense to enter a more benign development cycle.