Agricultural drone explosion, many benefits, high risks

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In recent years, in the Mekong Delta (MD), especially in provinces with strengths in rice cultivation, such as Kien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap... the image of rice fields with agricultural drones is no longer strange, and has even become familiar to old farmers.

In late February 2025, traveling along National Highway N2 (My Dong Commune, Thap Muoi District, Dong Thap Province), we witnessed the explosion of drones with our own eyes. Drones are used for spraying pesticides, drones participate in fertilizing and sowing seeds. There was even a time when many fields next to each other used 2-3 drone service providers... Most of the service owners came from farmers.

A typical example is the case of Mr. Bui Tan Hau (My Dong commune, Thap Muoi district, Dong Thap province). As the person who directly takes care of more than 10 hectares of the family's rice, after many searching for workers to spray pesticides, fertilize... more than 3 years ago, Mr. Hau boldly invested more than 500 million VND to buy drones as an alternative solution.

At first, he only served domestic rice fields, but after seeing the effectiveness, a few people near his house suggested that he spray them for hire. The good news spread far and wide, the job grew and after only 1 year of being a "worksman" for rice plants, he recovered his capital and to date, the machine is still "use quite well".

"If the operation is stable, the average income of a drone is 3 hectares higher than that of farmers growing rice," Mr. Hau said honestly. After receiving the urge, Mr. Hau bought a second " may" to expand the area and have a machine to replace it when there was an incident. The new generation, with outstanding features, has recovered capital in less than a year.

Seeing Mr. Hau eating, he did it with a drone, many people followed. In the hamlet where Mr. Hau lives alone, after just over 2 years (2022-2025), the number of drones has doubled (from 15 to 30).

Mr. Nguyen Van Vu Minh - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Thap province - said that up to now, the province has nearly 300 agricultural drones in operation. This figure does not include peak areas, places bordering other provinces, as well as localities and service airlines.

Meanwhile, in Kien Giang province - the locality with the highest rice output in the country, there are also nearly 700 agricultural drones.

"Drone brings many benefits and first of all, it is a timely and effective solution to the current shortage of seasonal labor in rural areas. The performance of drones is quite high, fast and has many precision factors compared to manual labor, so it will continue to grow rapidly," said Mr. Minh.

High efficiency

It is undeniable that agricultural drones bring many benefits in rice production in the Mekong Delta, especially in the context of many workers in the area leaving their hometowns to work in the city.

Mr. Le Quoc Trung - Director of the "Digital Agriculture" Cooperative of Dong Thap province - acknowledged that since 2018, young workers working in the agricultural sector, especially the spraying and fertilizer phase, have decreased significantly because the work takes a lot of effort and is toxic. When planting, this condition becomes more serious.

"The appearance of agricultural drones has solved the problem of human resources, especially pests and diseases management. Above all, this is a stepping stone to digitize and standardize the agricultural process, provide the most accurate index and decision to create quality rice products according to standards. Drones in particular and advanced equipment developed in the Mekong Delta have formed a young, professional, enthusiastic, passionate force, willing to learn technology, provide professional services, helping people reduce their burden, Mr. Trung added.

Master Nguyen Phuoc Tuyen - Former Director of the Agricultural Extension Center of Dong Thap province - analyzed that one of the reasons why drones have become a movement in agricultural production is to make everything easy: simple operation, farmers are not afraid of being exposed to drugs, the cost is quite good but brings higher efficiency in disease management.

In fact, when we conducted a survey in the Mekong Delta region, most people praised drones. For example, old farmer Nguyen Minh Tuan (Hamlet 4, My Dong Commune, Thap Muoi District, Dong Thap) has been able to grow 4.5 hectares of rice but for the past 3 years he has also switched to renting drones to spray medicine. "The cost is affordable but above all, it helps me improve my health, it is fast, compact, quick and can take advantage of the rain," Mr. Tuan praised.

But there are risks...

Although effective, with the current skyrocketing development, agricultural drones also have many unpredictable risks, and the story that occurred at the end of November 2024 in Hon Dat district, Kien Giang province is an alarm bell.

While traveling, a man in My Hiep Son commune (hon Dat) was hit by a drone spraying medicine. After the collision, the man was seriously injured after being slashed in the head and neck by a fan. Although he was taken to An Giang General Hospital for emergency treatment, due to severe injuries, on November 21, 2024, the man who was the main breadwinner of the family died.

Hon Dat district informed that the incident was a regrettable thing that no one wanted. After this incident, the district conducted an inspection and directed the authorities, especially the District Military Command (DCC) to direct the Military Commands of communes and towns.

The locality acknowledged that drone management skills at the commune level are not guaranteed. Aiming for the district to propose that the District Military Command will have a proposal to the Provincial Military Command to have more detailed instructions on management and use.

"The application of high technology in production is being promoted, which is a general policy, but needs to be managed more closely. In particular, Hon Dat is a district with a large agricultural area of the province, so there is a lot of application and use of this aircraft. Relevant units need to review closely to manage more effectively, avoiding unfortunate incidents," said a leader of this district.

In February 2025, a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper went to the People's Committee of My Hiep Son Commune, Hon Dat District, Kien Giang Province to grasp more about the situation of the incident. According to the source, this is a quite serious case, the police have initiated a prosecution....

This raises a big problem in managing agricultural drones, not to mention many people who profit from agricultural services.