Research Progress on Drones Application in Agricultural Monitoring and Farming Operations

Wang Shuai; Wang Xiao; Liang Feng; Wang Fengyun; Fan Yangyang; Tuxun'aili Yiming; Song Hualu; Xu Hao; Feng Wenjie

doi:10.14083/j.issn.1001-4942.2025.06.019

Abstract：Drones,characterized by high mobility,flexibility and work efficiency,have become an inte-gral part of China's agricultural machinery and equipment,achieving remarkable application results in areas such as agricultural monitoring and farming operations.Equipped with various earth observation sensors such as visible-light and spectral cameras,LiDAR and thermal imagers,drones can rapidly,efficiently and accurately acquire remote sensing data of crops and soil.By integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence algo-rithms,they enable precise analysis of field area and yield estimation,pest and disease monitoring and early warning,soil quality assessment,and so on.Additionally,drones can be fitted with spraying and seeding sys-tems to perform efficient agricultural tasks such as crop protection and sowing.To better promote the applica-tion and development of agricultural drone technology in China,this paper provided a brief introduction to drone types,path planning,onboard sensors,and specialized farming payloads,and summarized the research progress and application status of drone technology in China's agricultural monitoring(including crop planting area and yield estimation,pest and disease monitoring and early warning,soil quality assessment,and crop phenotyping research)and farming operations(crop protection,fertilization,seeding,and harvesting).Fur-thermore,the current limitations of agricultural drone technology application in China were analyzed and its fu-ture development directions were prospected,aiming to provide a scientific reference for advancing the applica-tion of drones in China's agricultural production.