On June 30, 2025, the rice fields of Kake Village in Xiaoerbulake Town, Xinyuan County, shimmered under the sun, their vibrant green leaves swaying in the breeze. Overhead, an agile agricultural drone hummed as it dispersed fertilizer in precise, even patterns. At the field's edge, 25-year-old Gui Jianghua maneuvered the drone with quick flicks of his remote control, his eyes fixed on the screen tracking its path. In just three minutes, the drone had fertilized about 1.33 hectares of land, which once took a farmer three grueling hours under the blazing sun. The days of his father's generation, bent double in the fields under the unrelenting heat, were now history, replaced by the quiet whir of technology at Gui's command.

Gui Jianghua returned to his rural hometown in 2021 after graduating from college. Seeing his parents toil from dawn till dusk across their 33.33 hectares of rice paddies, he understood the exhaustion of traditional farming. Then, during a chance encounter, he saw an agricultural drone in action. Inspired, he enrolled in training, earned his drone operator license, and bought his own equipment—becoming one of the first in his village to embrace high-tech farming.

Photo shows a plant protection drone works in field.

Gui Jianghua has now become a leading example of the tech-savvy 'new farmers' in his area. This year, he expanded his contracted rice fields to 80 hectares and upgraded his drone from the first to the fourth generation. With seeding, fertilizing, and pesticide spraying all handled by drones, he has dramatically cut labor expenses while boosting crop production.

Kake Village has more pioneers like him. Bai Li, who once struggled with poverty, now thrives as a confident "female drone operator." Using her drone, she efficiently manages her family's 500 mu rice paddies and moonlights as part of an "aerial service crew" during peak seasons, charging villagers five yuan per mu (one mu equals about 0.067 hectares) for crop-dusting and fertilizing. "Rice farming brings in over 100,000 yuan yearly, and my drone services add another 80,000 yuan between May and July. That's 200,000 yuan a year in total," Bai Li explained, her smile radiating contentment. Her family has invested in advanced farm machinery, including their newest purchase, a fifth agricultural drone with a 70-kilogram payload capacity, further elevating their productivity.

Photo shows Bai Li operates a plant protection drone.

Witnessing these developments, Hu Changwen, Party secretary and village committee head of Kake Village, expressed heartfelt pride, "Our young returnees bring fresh perspectives. They've quickly adopted drones for field management and have become pioneers in smart farming." He noted that rice dominates Kake's agriculture, with current plantings covering 866.67 hectares. Remarkably, 14 of the village's 43 farming families now possess agricultural drones.

Wu Xiaoli, a senior agricultural engineer at Ili's Machinery Extension Station, explained the technology's versatility, "Beyond spraying and fertilizing, these drones perform crop surveillance, field mapping, precision agriculture, digital farming systems, and even agricultural transport. We're committed to expanding multi-role drone applications to demonstrate technology's real benefits for farmers."

Ili's countryside has become a living showcase for smart agriculture. The transformation from backbreaking fieldwork to "farming via cloud" continues gaining momentum, with growing numbers of major growers embracing agricultural technology. Across Ili's vast farmlands, an exciting new chapter of tech-enhanced agriculture is taking shape.

(The Media Convergence Center of Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Reporters: Su Min, Wang Juan and Du Lei)