Drone farming

In February, in Hami, Xinjiang, the temperature was below zero and the fields were desolate. However, the test flight of a new type of plant protection drone attracted the attention of many cotton farmers.The drone belongs to 26 year old Rong Mengya, who returned from studying in the UK and made a name for herself among Hami cotton farmers in just two years. Every May to October, hundreds of calls are made to Rong Mengya’s phone, inviting her team to do plant protection for the crops in the fields.Since its establishment, Rongmengya’s unmanned aerial fleet has expanded from 1 to 6, with a team of 10 members, completing nearly 150000 acres of cotton field plant protection work.In Xinjiang, new technologies represented by drones are liberating the cotton planting industry from the heavy labor costs.The “Sea of People Tactics” in Cotton FieldsLike many Xinjiang children, Rong Mengya grew up with cotton fields. In the late 1990s, my parents traveled from Henan to Xinjiang and worked in agriculture for 20 years, growing over 4000 acres of cotton fields.Every September, Rong Mengya’s family becomes particularly lively because the picking season has arrived, and it takes a worker 2 months to complete 10 acres of cotton fields. The family employs at least 400 workers every year.Cotton fields after defoliationSome of the workers come from their hometown in Henan, while others are recruited through intermediary companies from Anhui, Gansu, Sichuan, and other places to manage the clothing, food, housing, and transportation of over 400 workers, posing an exceptionally complex challenge.Each person calculates their wages based on the quantity of cotton picked, with a monthly picking amount of around 5000 yuan per person. They also need to charter a car for transportation, arrange accommodation, and manage meals every day, so they need to hire two more chefs, “said Rong Mengya’s mother.The “sea of people strategy” in the cotton fields is a unique scenery during the cotton picking season in Xinjiang, but it is a heavy burden for cotton farmers. The cost of cotton planting mainly consists of land, production, and labor, with single worker accounting for about half of the total cost.Every year during the picking season, Rong Mengya’s family spends more than 4 million yuan on hiring people. Therefore, two years ago, when the local army in Hami began promoting cotton picking machines, Rong Mengya’s father didn’t even think about it and became the first person in Hami to eat crabs.At that time, many people dared not use it because the cotton picking opportunity caused a 5% loss, and the common people had to pick up every cotton on the ground. How could they be willing to lose it? Unexpectedly, Rong Mengya’s parents tasted the sweetness of boldness. The cotton picker has an extremely high efficiency, operating continuously day and night, and can complete the work of previous workers for 2 months in a week. Moreover, the cost of mechanized mining per acre is only over 200 yuan, and compared to the saved labor costs, the losses caused by mechanized mining can be almost negligible.Plant protection droneFrom then on, Rong Mengya’s father became a loyal supporter of agricultural mechanization, and whenever there was a large-scale agricultural machinery exhibition, he would go shopping by any means possible. Rong Mengya also came into contact with plant protection drones at an agricultural machinery exhibition.Tested drone plant protection technologyCotton farmers all know that cotton fields need to undergo at least 6 plant protection measures every year – spraying in May and June to prevent aphids; 7. Applying medicine in August is to kill pests such as aphids and red spiders; From September to mid to early October, it is necessary to apply defoliant to accelerate the shedding of cotton leaves, in order to facilitate the operation of the cotton picker.During her study abroad in the UK, Rong Mengya played with drones, showing that she was accustomed to tractor plant protection and never thought that drones could also be used for plant protection. It wasn’t until she accompanied her father to the agricultural machinery exhibition in 2015 that she first learned about drone plant protection.At that time, drone plant protection was still very unpopular, and Dajiang did not even enter this industry. My brother and I both believed that mechanization must be the direction of future agriculture, and this was an opportunity, “said Rong Mengya.At the beginning of 2016, DJI launched its first plant protection drone, but Rong Mengya and her siblings searched all over Xinjiang but couldn’t find a single plane. Through online search, the siblings traveled to Shandong and Jiangsu before returning to Hami with a drone and officially starting their drone plant protection business.How does a drone fly? How to mix the medicine? How to set the flight speed? The brother and sister knew nothing. Fortunately, there is no shortage of cotton fields at home. The siblings set up an experimental field and divided it into several blocks to test different concentrations of drugs such as 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%, in order to find the best solution with the best efficacy.If the plant itself has diseases and pests, there will be color spots on the surface of the leaves. After the drone sprays medicine, if the color spots gradually ease, it indicates that it has taken effect, “said Rong Mengya.After repeated experiments, Rong Mengya and her brother found that one acre of land requires one liter of potion to be filled. The drone’s speed should be controlled between 4 meters/second and 4.5 meters/second, and the height should be kept about 2 meters above the plant to achieve the best results. Rong Mengya and her brother first planted and protected nearly 4000 acres of their own land.A few days later, the neighbor closed the door and found that after using a tractor to spray medicine, the number of aphids not only did not get killed, but also increased. However, the fields of the neighboring Rong family had no aphids. Neighbors came to seek advice, and that’s when I heard about the drone spraying medicine.The next day, Rong Mengya and her brother took the drone to their neighbor’s field, only to find that there were over 80 people waiting in a bustling crowd on the edge of the field. The news of drone spraying medicine has already spread, and everyone wants to see this new thing.Why did the tractor lose to the droneIn the following three or four days, groups of people rushed from all directions, including Lan Zili. He drove more than 60 kilometers specifically to see if drone plant protection could solve his problems.Lan Zili’s family has over 1000 acres of cotton land, and the various problems caused by tractor plant protection have always been a headache for him, especially when the tractor turns around, it is very easy to drop cotton peaches. The loss rate caused by plant protection is around 5-7%. Based on an annual yield of 400 kilograms per acre, at least 20 kilograms per acre of land will be reduced, and the loss of 1000 acres of land is 20 tons! The loss rate of drone plant protection is 0. If calculated at the purchase price of 7.5 yuan/kg in 2017, using drone plant protection alone can increase income by 150000 yuan per year.Drones are also far more efficient than tractors. A tractor plants 100 acres of land a day, and the same drone only takes 2 hours to survive during the outbreak period. The earlier the pest is stopped, the earlier the loss is stopped.Tractors can only operate during the day, but every July and August in Hami, the surface temperature reaches as high as 50 ℃ during the afternoon, causing the evaporation of drugs. At the same time, insect larvae hide at the bottom of the leaves, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of plant protection. Drones equipped with obstacle avoidance radar can operate at night and have better killing effects.Another decisive advantage is water conservation. Xinjiang is one of the most water deficient regions in China, and the per capita water resources in Hami are only half of the total per capita water resources in Xinjiang. Tractors consume 500 kilograms of water per acre of land for plant protection, while drones only consume 100 kilograms. Lan Zili calculated that one dose of medication at home can save 400 tons of water.Can it be effective with so little water? “Every farmer, including Lan Zili, asked Rong Mengya several times about the same question.In fact, if the drone uses less water, it means that the concentration of the potion increases, and the effect is naturally better. “Rong Mengya would explain to them every time, just like a cup of sugar water, a spoonful of sugar put into 20ml of water, you can taste the sweetness, but if you put it into 2000ml of water, you can’t taste any taste.Five months of hard work can earn several hundred thousand yuanThe advantage of tractor plant protection lies in its price, which is only about 4 yuan/mu, while the price for drone plant protection is 8 yuan/mu. Lan Zili calculated that using drones for plant protection six times a year would cost an additional 24000 yuan for 1000 acres of cotton land.However, compared to the benefits of reducing losses and using water, the cost of plant protection is not high. “Lan Zili quickly made a decision and became a VIP customer of Rongmengya. For two consecutive years, he asked Rongmengya’s team to be responsible for the plant protection work of the cotton fields.The advantages of drone plant protection were quickly recognized by cotton farmers, and the order volume continued to rise. In June 2016, Rongmengya purchased a second drone, and by September, the fleet size had expanded to four.Starting with a pickup truck, a drone, and 10 batteries, Rong Mengya and her brother traveled throughout ten towns and twenty-seven townships under the jurisdiction of Hami in five months. My older brother Rong Jingzhe became a pilot, while Rong Mengya was responsible for logistics work such as dispensing medicine and replacing batteries. At their busiest times, their parents were also dragged to the ground to help.The busiest season is the picking season, and the time for applying defoliant is concentrated within 20-30 days. We work for more than ten hours every day, and sometimes we can’t go home for a whole month. “Rong Mengya said, during that time, everyone in the team lived like” savages “.Drone plant protection can be carried out at nightAt the end of 2016, Rong Mengya and her brother worked on over 70000 acres in the surrounding area of Hami, earning back the cost of four drones (one plant protection drone with a battery price of nearly 50000 yuan) and one pickup truck.Last year, Rongmengya’s plant protection team continued to expand, hiring professional pilots and adding two drones. The biggest cost is to purchase two drones, but last year we had planted around 70000 acres of land, and the income from plant protection alone was around 560000 yuan, “said Rong Mengya.New professions with a future gap of 300000 yuanRong Mengya believes that drone plant protection has great potential in Xinjiang. “The entire Hami region has 1 million acres of cotton land, with at least 6 plant protection times a year, which is equivalent to requiring 6 million acres of cotton land to be protected. Last year, our team protected about 70000 acres of cotton land, accounting for only 1% of the entire Hami market. The market is not saturated at allIn 2017, the cotton planting area in Xinjiang reached 28.9661 million acres. If all drone plant protection were adopted, it would create a new market of over 1 billion yuan.While drone plant protection is rapidly becoming popular, flying hands are also becoming increasingly scarce. Every cotton picking season in Xinjiang, hundreds of pilots from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) plant protection teams from all over the country drive cars and bring nearly 1000 UAVs to Xinjiang like migratory birds, just like the past wheat geeks.At present, 60% of Xinjiang’s cotton fields are protected by non local plant protection teams, and there are only a few local plant protection teams with scale, resulting in a shortage of pilots. Rong Mengya decided to expand her business scope, no longer limited to the annual plant protection period of five or six months, and expand her business to drone sales, pilot talent training, and plant protection.Last May, the brother and sister became agents in the Hami area of Xinjiang Agriculture and opened a store in Hami to sell plant protection drones. Rong Mengya’s main job has also shifted from the front line of plant protection to sales, after-sales, training, and other work.