Drones feed crayfish?

Xuyi’s crayfish are well-known nationwide, and now these crayfish farming industries are using high-tech: local farmers have used drones on shrimp rice co farming farms, which not only automatically feed crayfish, but also use drones to weed, fertilize, and prevent pests in rice fields, saving tens of thousands of yuan in labor costs.

On the afternoon of May 25th, in Xuyi, Jiangsu, Dai Rongsong operated a drone on his farm to spread feed on his crayfish. Dai Rongsong, 40 years old, started raising 200 acres of crayfish in 2018. Currently, a family of four operates a shrimp rice co breeding family farm in Xuyi. In the past, when raising crayfish, shrimp feed needed to be sown regularly every day, usually with one person manually rowing and one person spreading the feed. One acre of land required feed ranging from 2-6 kilograms, depending on the feeding situation of the crayfish to determine the amount to be fed the next day. He, his wife, and parents take turns spreading feed, usually starting at 3pm and continuing until 6pm. Starting from last year, his family’s 200 acre crayfish field was changed to shrimp rice rotation. Generally, lobster seedlings were released from the end of March to early April, shrimp were released from the end of May to early June, and after June, water was released for transplanting and rice cultivation. Harvesting began in October. After raising crayfish for a year, he also contracted an additional 400 acres of land for wheat rice rotation.

In March of this year, Dai Rongsong began experimenting with the “new weapon” of lobster farming: he bought a Jifei P100 Pro agricultural drone and began using drones to spread feed to his own crayfish. Originally, the 200 acre crayfish would take three hours of work per day for four people to feed, but now it only takes half an hour to spread feed using drones. In the past, Dai Rongsong had to arrange his work in advance and come back to scatter feed with his family every day. Now, with drones, he can solve the problem of “eating” crayfish in just half an hour after work.

What makes Dai Rongsong most happy is that agricultural drones can not only easily solve the problem of feeding crayfish, but also help him solve rice planting problems such as spraying medicine and fertilizer. He calculated an account: Previously, raising one season of shrimp and growing one season of rice often required hiring temporary workers to help, which would require about 4 people to labor. At 150 yuan per day, the total labor cost alone may be nearly 60000 yuan. However, now, the cost of purchasing drones can be saved in almost a year by relying on drones to spread feed, fertilize, and remove pests, and the next year is basically a net savings in labor costs.

Wang Hui introduced that agricultural drone assisted breeding can also solve many pain points that cannot be reached by manpower. For example, manual feeding is not standard or precise enough: if the wind is strong, it is not possible to control the ship. If the feed is scattered in the ditch, crabs cannot eat it and it is easy to waste; Moreover, hairy crabs have high requirements for water quality, and improper placement of feed can also worsen the underwater environment. According to Wang Hui’s calculation, manual dispersal of feed requires buying a boat, feed machine, battery, etc., as well as manually importing feed machines. There are 21 ponds on 800 acres of land, and the cost is around 60000 yuan. Now using agricultural drones to “feed” shrimp and crabs can complete the feeding task of about 800 acres in just 2 and a half hours, saving 5-6 manpower and determining the placement of water plants for the next year based on fixed routes, providing better habitats for crayfish/hairy crabs.