More than 2,200 drones power farm operations

By Gao Qing

There are more than 2,200 agricultural drones in service in Yichang, a total that ranks among the highest in Hubei Province. Used for fruit transportation, plant protection and emergency response, these devices address multiple challenges.

In Zigui County, nearly 1,000 drones help ease the long-standing burden of costly fruit delivery across mountainous terrain. Over 200 local teams provide drone operation and maintenance services, extending their business to more than 10 provinces including Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou.

On August 3, Tan Longfei operated an agricultural drone to carry summer oranges from fields to roadsides. Having previously worked in drone photography, Tan tapped into the local low-altitude economy and started agricultural drone services. His team can transport over 20,000 kilograms of oranges each day in peak harvest seasons.

To guide the standardized application of agricultural drones in farming, Yichang piloted drone purchase subsidy programs in 2018 and fully implemented the policy across the city in 2021. The policy cut purchase costs for farmers and operators and expanded drone usage in sowing, fertilizing, plant protection and emergency snow removal.

With continuous development, local agricultural drones have expanded from basic crop-protection work to diverse applications including sowing, farm-product lifting and emergency disaster relief. To manage the rapid growth of agricultural drones, authorities have rolled out several regulatory measures for operator training, drone registration and enterprise support, ensuring safe and standardized drone operations.

Yang Liu, Jie Xingwei and Zhang Min also contributed to this story.