Drone pilots in the fields earn 8,000 yuan a day

More and more young people are obtaining crop-protection drone pilot certificates and returning to rural areas to take on jobs. Tang Jie's team has 11 people and 23 drones; during the busy farming season, one person operates two drones and can earn seven to eight thousand yuan a day. In 2025, China's crop-protection drone fleet reached 309,000 units, with annual operations covering 3.04 billion mu-times. Applying base fertilizer to 100 mu with a drone takes less than four hours and costs just over 1,000 yuan, while hiring 50 people would cost 4,000 yuan.