Xinning, Hunan: Drones on duty as “escort” for navel orange orchard plant protection

On May 4th, at the Umbilical Orange Orchard in Group 20, Yangping Village, Huanglong Town, Xinning County, Hunan Province, a villager in his 50s, He Shuangxiang, skillfully controlled the plant protection drone, moving forward, backward, and turning in an orderly manner, flying steadily in the field, occasionally attracting cheers from other villagers. According to He Shuangxiang, it has been estimated that his family’s navel orange orchard, covering over 100 acres, can use drones for plant protection, saving over 100000 yuan in labor costs per year.

From April 24th to 26th, the “High quality Farmers Cultivate Plant Protection Drone Flying Hands” integrated operation training course was held in Yangping Village. The training course hired the project team of Hunan Jimu Robot Co., Ltd. to provide on-site training and guidance, and more than 30 eligible people from the village signed up to participate in the training.

After three days of training and passing relevant exams by the appraisal department, a total of 10 people in Yangping Village have obtained the certificate of qualification for plant protection drone drivers. The certified student villager He Shuangxiang happily said: Thank you to the village team and the village branch committee for helping us achieve precise policy implementation and deliver what we need. Through three days of training, I have felt the power of technology. In the future, I can save a lot of labor in the process of fertilizing and applying navel oranges. I also plan to engage in the drone plant protection industry myself, striving to serve our village and surrounding villagers well.

Since receiving the notice from the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Xinning County in November 2022 regarding the allocation of 500000 yuan of collective economic award and subsidy funds to the village, the question of “how to make good use of the funds while implementing the requirements of superiors” has been lingering in the mind of Deng Weihua, the first secretary of Hunan National Defense Vocational College in the village. He led the village work team and the village branch committees to visit village council members and village representatives multiple times, through household visits and holding courtyard meetings After gathering ideas and organizing the collected public opinion, it was found that the villagers’ ideas mainly focused on how to use innovative thinking in the villagers’ navel orange industry within a funding of 500000 yuan.

After multiple investigations and careful consideration, the idea of “technology assisting new rural areas” has been put forward. Firstly, establish a village’s own agricultural materials company, which will be operated and managed by the village committee; The second is to use technological means to replace manual fertilization and pesticide application with drone plant protection, in order to promote the development of the navel orange industry in the village in a scientific and efficient manner, ensure the income increase and smooth operation of the villagers’ navel orange industry. By developing additional industries for drone plant protection, it can increase employment opportunities for villagers and further promote industrial development.

“Are there any requirements for the flying height of plant protection UAVs?” “What are the provisions of the flight limit zone and the no-fly zone?” In the class, the training lecturer made the trainees master the structure, performance, assembly, commissioning, operation, maintenance, laws and regulations related to piloting UAVs through theoretical explanation, on-site demonstration, actual operation and other methods.

Villager Shi Guangyuan said, “Like in the past, when spraying pesticides, one person can only dry one or two acres of land per day, and it is toxic and not good for people. So if I learn this, I can use drones to sprinkle medicine. One day is equivalent to the workload of 20 people, which is one or two hundred acres per day. For myself, if I learn drones, helping others sprinkle medicine can also create value.