(July 10, 2024, Shenzhen) Recently, DJI Agriculture released the "Agricultural UAV Industry White Paper (2023)", which records the latest development trends of the agricultural drone industry in 2023, the support policies of many governments, and the emerging scenarios of agricultural drone applications brought about by the improvement of scientific and technological productivity from a global perspective.

New Milestones, Escorting Agricultural Production

It is reported that as of June 30, 2024, the global ownership of DJI agricultural drones will exceed 300,000 units, and the cumulative global operating area will exceed 7.5 billion mu, covering one-third of China's agricultural land.

In 2023, DJI Agriculture landed the "Cloud Xinjiang Fruit" navel orange demonstration garden in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, verifying the feasibility of single-person agricultural drones to complete the whole process of plant protection management; helping small sugarcane farmers in South Africa to increase production and income, with the highest increase in sugarcane sugar production of 1.78 tons/hectare; carrying out precision spot spraying and weeding in the United States, increasing income by $17 per acre. In November 2023, DJI Agriculture released the T60 and T25P agricultural drones. Based on the existing technology, it further improved multiple solutions such as fruit tree spraying and field operations, used technology to connect the land, and deeply participated in the construction of more agricultural production scenarios.

New technology adds icing on the cake for low-carbon emission reduction

"Green mountains and clear waters are worse than mountains of gold and silver." Agricultural drones, through electric drive and precise fertilization and pesticide application, bring us one step closer to the goal of low-carbon emission reduction. In the field management link, the application of agricultural drones can save 29 liters of water per mu compared with manual operations; at the same time, the precise operation of drones can reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help reduce the carbon footprint of agricultural production. The 7.5 billion mu of operating area can save a total of 210 million tons of water, which is equivalent to the annual drinking water consumption of 390 million residents; the cumulative reduction of 25.72 million tons of carbon emissions is equivalent to the annual carbon fixation of 1.2 billion trees; equivalent to a reduction of 47,000 tons of pesticide use.

New rules lower the threshold for agricultural employment

In 2023, when global agriculture is facing severe challenges, China's civil aviation management and agricultural management have further lowered the threshold for the employment of agricultural pilots. The release of the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flights" clearly supports the development of agricultural drones.
Overseas, the Brazilian Civil Aviation Administration has reduced the management of agricultural drones, canceled the airworthiness requirements, and replaced them with real-name registration and license management, greatly lowering the threshold for people to use agricultural drones; Europe has adopted a unified international standard ISO23117-1 to save time for mandatory certification of agricultural machinery; the Australian Civil Aviation Administration has issued a support policy for agricultural drones, and farmers do not need to apply for permission to apply pesticides on their own farms, while allowing agricultural machinery to operate beyond visual range and in clusters.
More relaxed policies have given more young people the confidence and confidence to return to agriculture. According to statistics, DJI Agriculture has trained 300,000 pilots worldwide.
“In 2023, based on the existing training countries, we will continue to carry out instructor training, user training, smart agriculture training and fruit tree training in Australia, Europe, the United States and South American countries to popularize knowledge and skills for more partners and users. In 2024, DJI will integrate the team and content in training, and provide more advanced training for partners in combination with crop solutions, including pre-sales training for sales staff, engineer delivery training for technical personnel and fruit tree training, so that partners can obtain all-round product and industry education and improvement, so as to better serve the industry and users.”

New design improves safety for aerial spraying operations

Aerial spraying operation safety has always been a topic of concern. The "White Paper" mentioned that in 2023, DJI Agriculture conducted drift tests in China, Australia, Hungary and other countries to verify the anti-drift design of drones and explore more best practices. After rigorous wind tunnel testing and field testing, the product technology of DJI Agriculture has updated the nozzle droplet particle size to 50-500 microns. The coarser particle size can effectively prevent the drift of the liquid medicine.
At the same time, DJI Agriculture has also explored the impact of flight altitude and flight speed on drift through testing, and also provided parameter recommendations for users to operate under different wind speeds in the "White Paper".

New scenarios, adding bricks and tiles to production and life

In addition, DJI Agriculture's "White Paper" also covers emerging application scenarios of agricultural drones and corresponding operation skills. This year's scenario applications involve the full process of Wogan operation, red pine natural forest operation, tussah application, tea green leafhopper control, snow melting agent sowing, agave plant protection application, etc.
"We hope to help practitioners understand more cutting-edge applications and practices through the "White Paper". Not only can they directly obtain operation parameters from cases and develop new businesses, but they can also get inspiration from these cases and use agricultural drones to develop more application scenarios," said Zhang Yuan, head of global sales at DJI Agriculture.
Rice and wheat are the main crops in Asia. The "White Paper" has released corresponding cases for three consecutive years, providing practitioners with operation cases from different angles such as spraying, sowing, and smart agriculture. The content covers flight altitude, flight speed, medication time, germination process, etc., aiming to provide the most comprehensive operation guidance for agricultural practitioners.

New opportunities for global agriculture cooperation

In 2023, DJI Agriculture participated in the activities and meetings of many international organizations such as the OECD, FAO, and ISO. The international community's recognition of agricultural drones has continued to increase, and in-depth discussions have been conducted on how to better help farmers use agricultural drones in the future.
In May 2023, DJI Agriculture participated in a seminar on agricultural drone operations held by the OECD in the UK, and discussed the technical innovation and management of agricultural drones with experts from different OECD member countries. The agenda covered topics such as regulations, drone technology, drift testing, and best practices.
In August 2023, DJI Agriculture participated in the FAO Asia-Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) Plant Protection Drone Application Technology Training Course held in Nanjing. Representatives and lecturers from the APPPC Secretariat, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, and other units, as well as representatives from 10 member countries including China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Tonga, attended the training course.
"Agricultural drones, as advanced technology products and representatives of new productivity, have injected new vitality into the 5,000-year-old agriculture in China. They have also passed on the vitality to the world, helping to develop diversified applications in overseas agriculture." The White Paper wrote in its conclusion. It is hoped that in the wave of continuous innovation in global agricultural technology, the agricultural drone industry will flourish.