Agricultural drones: low-altitude "farmers" lead the new future of agriculture

In recent years, with the gradual implementation of low-altitude economic policies, the application scenarios of agricultural drones have continued to expand, and more and more new operational needs are driving the rapid development of this field.

Recently, the first Tianjin Agricultural Drone Innovation and Application Conference, hosted by the Ninghe District People's Government of Tianjin and the Tianjin Agricultural Society, was held in Ninghe District. The conference was themed "Empowering Low-altitude Economy to Help Digital Agriculture", and brought together a number of academicians, universities, central enterprises, industry experts and elites in the field of low-altitude economy. Focusing on the academic frontiers, technological innovations, agricultural applications, and future trends of low-altitude economy, they shared their thoughts on the low-altitude economic industry in the agricultural field, helped Tianjin accelerate the construction of modern urban agriculture, and jointly discussed and built the future development of Tianjin's low-altitude economy.

"In the context of developing modern agriculture and building an agricultural power, we must use advanced technology and equipment to promote the development of new agricultural productivity. In the future, Ninghe District will develop agricultural aircraft with low-altitude economy as the theme, and it needs to actively develop related parts and components, as well as modern agricultural services with drone aircraft as the theme. Through this socialized service, the development of modern agriculture in Ninghe District will be promoted." Zhao Chunjiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the National Agricultural Informatization Engineering Technology Research Center, said.

Promoting the modernization of agriculture is an inevitable requirement for achieving high-quality development. In recent years, the quiet rise of low-altitude economy has brought about major changes in agricultural production methods. Ninghe District, as a major agricultural district in Tianjin, has nearly 700,000 acres of arable land and 200,000 acres of forest land. From sowing, fertilization to spraying, the frequency of drones in agricultural production in Ninghe District is getting higher and higher. It has become an essential tool for modern smart agriculture and a key scientific and technological support for agricultural harvest.

The first Tianjin Agricultural UAV Innovation and Application Conference brought together many forces. Through the sharing of advanced concepts and technologies at the forefront of current agriculture, new scenario application solutions, interpretation of national policies and other rich content, it promoted the deep integration of low-altitude economy and related fields such as agriculture, allowing every agricultural worker to gain knowledge and confidence, and also brought new inspiration to Ninghe District to promote "low-altitude + agricultural and forestry plant protection".

"The application of drones in agricultural enterprises has become more and more extensive, showing a trend of 'one machine for multiple uses'. In addition to traditional plant protection and spraying, there are also application scenarios such as land surveying and planning, pest monitoring and analysis, yield estimation and harvest prediction, which can help our agricultural enterprises achieve refined and intelligent management, improve production efficiency, reduce costs and promote sustainable development." Li Zheng, manager of Tianjin Jinshi Shennong Seed Co., Ltd. said.

"Before, drones for agricultural and forestry plant protection and spraying pesticides were already very mature, but now the low-altitude economy needs to develop, and the most important thing is to find application scenarios. Ninghe is a large agricultural region. We need to combine new technologies with the economic characteristics of our region. The key point is to find application scenarios. After listening to the academician's speech today, we have more ideas to find newer scenarios." Chen He, project manager of Jiaokong Aviation Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. said.

Facing the opportunities of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the low-altitude economic industry is advancing rapidly, and new quality productivity is accelerating. In recent years, the concept of "low-altitude economy" has been widely mentioned at the Central Economic Work Conference. According to relevant data, the scale of my country's low-altitude economy has exceeded 500 billion yuan in 2023, and it is expected to exceed 2 trillion yuan by 2030. Against this background, drones, as an important part of the low-altitude economy, are ushering in new opportunities, especially in the in-depth application of smart agriculture.