Why the Road to the Development and Popularization of Agricultural Drones Is Not Smooth
China has always been a major agricultural country. As of last year, the agricultural population accounted for about 48% of the total population, and after drones went through the military market and commercial market, many drone companies have set their sights on the agricultural market as a new opportunity.
Theoretically, agricultural drones can indeed provide great assistance to agriculture, but in practical application, many problems may be encountered. In the application of agricultural drones, we have to face a realistic question: who is most likely to buy agricultural drones? Will farmers who use agricultural drones go out and buy a drone? Yes, large farm owners will, but more often it is agricultural production service providers, including agricultural cooperatives, pesticide suppliers, agricultural machinery service teams, and so on.
Although there is a steady stream of news about various farmers buying drones for operations, the operators of these agricultural drones either have several years of flight experience or are hired from among professional pilots. Very few people without flight experience directly operate and use them. You can imagine that when we learn to drive, a car moves on a flat plane, and becoming familiar with its operation still requires several months of practice. For drones, which move in three-dimensional space, learning their control experience unquestionably requires more time, and it will definitely exceed your imagination. The high difficulty of operating agricultural drones is a problem we must face. If they are truly to meet the needs of field operations, they will certainly require professional operators.
So what kind of drone is more down-to-earth and better suited to China's agricultural conditions? As agricultural equipment and production tools that need to be popularized, agricultural drones must be automated and fly without human control. We cannot hope to train a farmer who sprays pesticides in the fields to operate a drone. Even if the operation were simpler, there would be no need. In addition, manual operation is acceptable within close visual range, but if spraying operations are carried out in farmland of hundreds of mu, the drone will certainly go beyond the line of sight. With current technology, making a drone fly independently is not difficult. GIS geographic information technology can provide the drone with its position and possible fixed obstacles, and the flight path can be planned before the drone operates.
In addition, the market price of agricultural drones must be reasonable. Although many provinces and cities have already introduced subsidy policies for agricultural drones, what we need to consider is the price range that users buying drones can afford beyond the subsidies. Only in this way can it be more conducive to the application and promotion of drones in agriculture, thereby establishing a drone plant protection market with economies of scale.
Related reading:
A brief analysis of investment recommendations for agricultural drones
Investment recommendations: (1) The efficiency and economic viability of drone agricultural plant protection are significantly superior to traditional plant protection methods, and it is a breakthrough point for agricultural modernization during the 13th Five-Year Plan. (2) During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the average annual market demand for complete agricultural plant protection drones and services is about 30 billion. (3) The upcoming Central Document No. 1 will become a powerful catalyst for agricultural plant protection drones. Increasing load capacity and emphasizing services are industry trends, which help large enterprises stand out. Companies with strong complete-machine R&D and service capabilities and strong shareholder backgrounds will benefit first. Key recommendation: Deao General Aviation; beneficiary targets: Longxin General, Xin'an Co., Ltd., Sunward Intelligent, Zoomlion, etc. The level of plant protection mechanization is the lowest and is the weakest link in agricultural modernization.
Traditional agricultural plant protection is mostly based on manual backpack and boom sprayer pesticide application, and 96% of farmers believe that pesticide spraying is the most burdensome labor in the field.
The disadvantages of current manual plant protection lie in low operational efficiency, low effective agricultural utilization rate, high labor intensity, and low safety. Drone agricultural plant protection is significantly efficient and economical, and is a breakthrough point for agricultural modernization. Compared with traditional manual and hand-operated plant protection machinery, drone plant protection has significant advantages in efficiency and economy.
(1) Efficiency is reflected in high operational efficiency, good control effects, low operating costs, high safety, and wide adaptability. (2) Economy is reflected in labor and pesticide dosage, with drone plant protection saving half the cost. Therefore, compared with traditional manual plant protection, agricultural plant protection drones have obvious advantages in efficiency and economy, and are expected to replace traditional plant protection machinery in large numbers in the future. There is considerable room for improving China's level of plant protection mechanization, and the average annual market demand for complete machines and services is about 30 billion. (1) The market space for complete agricultural plant protection drones is at least 20 billion. (2) The average annual market space for agricultural plant protection drone operation services is at least 24 billion.
The upcoming Central Document No. 1 will become a powerful catalyst for agricultural plant protection drones. In 2014, Central Document No. 1 proposed "accelerating the construction of agricultural aviation"; during the 13th Five-Year Plan, it was proposed to vigorously advance agricultural modernization and promote the synchronized development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization. Local subsidy policies have also been introduced one after another in recent years, and it is judged that in the future, various localities and even the central level will with high probability include agricultural plant protection drones within the scope of agricultural machinery subsidies.