Rice Pest and Disease Control Enters the Three-Dimensional Era
To showcase the operational performance and efficiency of new-type plant protection machinery in rice fields, and to raise the equipment level of specialized unified prevention and control of rice pests and diseases, the national on-site observation, demonstration and technical training activity for the application of plant protection machinery in rice fields, organized by the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, was held in Guannan County, Jiangsu. The training site displayed more than 20 types of special new-type plant protection machinery for rice fields, including 6 types of self-propelled boom sprayers for rice fields independently developed by China in recent years, 14 types of unmanned plant protection aircraft, and 2 types of self-propelled sprayers for rice fields introduced from Japan.
A total of 11 enterprises exhibited at the event, including Jinxiu Qiancun Agricultural Materials Chain (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Shandong Weishi Plant Protection Machinery Co., Ltd. Participants watched demonstrations of plant protection operations on rice using multi-rotor drones, single-rotor drones, and self-propelled boom sprayers. Attendees marveled at the operational efficiency of these advanced new-type plant protection machines, and many consulted enterprise staff about machine efficacy, price, and subsidies.
Among them, the new-generation agricultural aviation plant protection drone demonstrated on site by "Qiancun Feifang" attracted great attention from participants due to its quick-release modular design, ease of inspection and maintenance, low maintenance cost, stable performance, and good fatigue resistance. According to reports, the aviation plant protection drone of "Qiancun Feifang" adopts an integrated-design power bracket, which can ensure the safety and stability of flight; its controllable spraying adjustment system can adjust the spray volume at any time according to the proficiency of the pilot, operating 1.5-2 mu per minute, 12-15 mu per sortie, and completing 250-350 mu of operating area per day.
More than 160 experts from the plant protection systems of 17 provinces and cities including Jiangsu and Hubei, as well as representatives of specialized rice pest and disease control organizations, attended the event. It also attracted more than 400 local farmers and representatives of specialized agricultural cooperative organizations to observe on site, jointly discussing specialized rice pest and disease control work, the application of new-type plant protection machinery, and pesticide application technology.
The demonstration site for the new-type plant protection machinery in rice fields was located in Duigougang Town, Guannan County, Jiangsu. In 2013, it was established as a ten-thousand-mu demonstration base for high-yield rice creation in Lianyungang City; in 2014, the town's rice planting area was 3,500 mu, adopting high-yield precise quantitative cultivation technology, with rice pest and disease control contracted by the Guannan County Plant Protection Professional Cooperative, and the coverage rate of unified prevention and control reaching 91%.
It is understood that this activity is also one of the important contents of this year's Ministry of Agriculture farmer service activities, mainly providing on-site training on the use of special plant protection machinery for rice fields, so that specialized control organizations and the vast number of farmers can understand and master the operational performance and efficiency of new-type plant protection machinery in rice fields, and comprehensively advance the level of specialized unified prevention and control of rice pests and diseases with modern plant protection equipment.
This is also the second consecutive year that the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center has organized the rice field plant protection machinery display and training activity, mainly to build a platform for technical training and cooperation and exchange for all parties. Through display and training, it promotes plant protection departments, specialized unified prevention and control organizations, and farmer professional cooperatives to actively demonstrate and promote new products in light of local realities, and encourages relevant enterprises to continuously improve product performance and reduce costs and prices.
Through the training activities, specialized unified prevention and control organizations and the vast number of farmers can broaden their horizons, integrate rice field pest and disease control models, comprehensively advance rice pest and disease control work, and provide technical support for further enhancing the capacity and level of specialized unified prevention and control of rice field pests and diseases in China.
Relevant experts said that the successful holding of this on-site meeting marks that the equipment level of specialized unified prevention and control of rice pests and diseases in China has entered the "air + ground" three-dimensional prevention and control era of coordinated operations between ground self-propelled sprayers and aviation plant protection sprayers.