Drone spraying pays for itself in the first year, the first pot of gold was not wasted
35-year-old young farmer Shi Weihao has been using agricultural plant protection machines for "aerial spraying" for more than 3 years. He recouped his investment in the first year and earned his first pot of gold, but during peak season he often leaves early and returns late, and he once accidentally got pesticide sprayed into his eyes, which still has not healed; as demand for plant protection machine spraying grows higher
35-year-old young farmer Shi Weihao has been using agricultural plant protection machines for "aerial spraying" for more than 3 years. He recouped his investment in the first year and earned his first pot of gold, but during peak season he often leaves early and returns late, and he once accidentally got pesticide sprayed into his eyes, which still has not healed; as demand for plant protection machine spraying grows higher, he has also further formed a team, making agricultural management move further toward technologicalization.
Shi Weihao originally worked as a salesperson at a listed company and was long-term stationed in mainland China. Although his annual salary was one million, he spent little time with his family. Later he chose to return to his hometown. Because his father ran an agricultural machinery shop and also had his own farmland, he took over the farming and applied the agricultural plant protection machine "aerial spraying" technology, which had long been promoted in mainland China, to the fields. Controlled by App and software, and through the flight control system for fixed speed and positioning, it can operate automatically and also be controlled manually.
Shi Weihao said that plant protection machines are most suitable for spraying and fertilizing in rice paddies, while sugarcane and corn crops are tall, so deploying drone spraying can prevent farmers from being trapped in the field and inhaling pesticides. In the past, during the outbreak period of litchi stink bug, he was also commissioned to help fruit farmers spray.
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The price commissioned by Changhua farmers for traditional spraying is 200 yuan per fen of land. Deploying a plant protection machine costs the same, but traditionally one jia of land requires about 1 kg of pesticide added to 1 metric ton of water for dilution, while a drone uses the same amount of pesticide but only needs 20 kg of water. Farmers' acceptance of the results is gradually increasing.
Last year, Shi Weihao applied about 1,000 hectares over the year. He said that when busy, he works up to 10 hours a day, and getting tanned and sunburned is common, but overall working hours are shorter and the annual salary is better than his previous job. The cost of an agricultural drone is about 500,000 yuan. Compared with traditional agricultural machinery costing over a million, it can recoup the investment faster. Because of the large volume of commissioned cases, he has now also formed a team with division of labor, making the use of plant protection machines more widespread.