Drone maker XAG in drive to automate rice farming in China amid labour shortage, Covid-19

XAG, one of China’s largest makers of agricultural drones, expects its JetSeed direct seeding system to become more widely adopted. Competition with DJI in China remains heated, as the world’s biggest maker of commercial drones sharpens its focus on industrial applications. — SCMP

The winds of change are set to roar through the farmlands of China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice, as drones start to take over planting of the staple crop.

That push for automation has been initiated by agricultural drone maker XAG, formerly known as Xaircraft, which has applied its drone-based direct seeding system – called JetSeed – from the testing stage to commercial adoption on more than 650 million square metres of rice fields in 11 provinces across China since April last year, according to the company.