Chinese drone maker specialising in agricultural services wants to see products fly off the shelves
Farmers in China are increasingly adopting flying robots because of its cost and speed advantages
Guangzhou-based XAircraft, a drone maker specialising in agricultural services in China, has launched four new unmanned aerial vehicles aimed at increasing its dominance in the sector.
“In the coming three years you will see explosive growth [in agricultural use drone market],” said Peng Bin, founder and chief executive officer of XAircraft.
He said he has already introduced the company’s products to farmers in markets such as Japan, South Korea and Japan.
Peng said there were two major obstacles - cost and ease of use - hindering wider use of crop-dusting drones among farmers in China. The drones are not cheap considering the new products are priced between 19,999 yuan (US$3,017) to 59,999 yuan. But he said his company has made the UAVs user friendly and easy to repair and maintain.
Peng said that the company hopes to make drones widely affordable for most farmers soon.
Zhang Ziyang, a 24-year-old fruit grower from Hubei province in Central China who attended XAircraft’s product launch, said he wanted to try the flying robot and maybe buy one. “It is safe and cool to use crop-dusting drones,” said Zhang. “The device, if I buy, will not only spray pesticides for my own fields but also other farmers’ crops in my hometown. I believe most planters will be willing to pay me for the crop-dusting service, especially the younger generation.”