China donates high-tech drones to help Pakistan combat locusts

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has purchased 12 T16 high-tech farm drones from DJI – a Shenzhen-based company which has been researching the use of drones in farms for years – and donated to Pakistan to help it combat locusts.

One T16 drone can spray insecticides over 10 hectares of farms every hour, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Friday.

The operator can control five drones at the same time without actually being on the field.

“China reacted fast to the locust disaster in Pakistan and sent a special task force to investigate the crisis,” said Ma Hongtao, counsel of the ministry, during a handover ceremony recently held in Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.

The ministry also promised to send technical support staff to operate the drones and train local operators. Ma expressed her wish that the locust and coronavirus situation will end soon.

T16 is one of the most advanced agricultural drones made by DJI. “Compared to traditional manual spraying, using drones is safer,” said Yasha Chen, DJI Sales Director, referring to the fact that with drones, people are not in direct contact with pesticides.

“The T16 can also dodge obstacles automatically,” he added.

Pakistan expressed gratitude for the grand gesture. “In addition to the drones, we also received 300,000L of pesticide spray,” said Ahmed Farooq, charge d’affaires of the embassy.

“This is one event, and it’s not the only event,” he went on to saying. “Once again, we proved with actions that China and Pakistan are friends,” Farooq added.

Pakistan, which along with other countries has been suffering from locusts since last year, had declared a national emergency back in February.