Refining pesticide use to reduce yield loss: How drone plant protection transforms smallholder pest management

Digital technologies hold potential to transform smallholder agriculture, but their impacts on production are not yet well understood. Using original survey data from Chinese maize farmers, we examine the adoption and impacts of Drone Plant Protection (DPP), a rapidly emerging agricultural technology. We find that adoption is associated with both economic and health considerations: DPP is linked to substantially lower operational costs (-29%) and pesticide exposure time (-90%), and suggests a lower incidence of self-reported pesticide-related health symptoms (-83%). Regarding impacts, a two-way fixed-effects model reveals that DPP users’ pesticide application frequency is 33% higher, primarily during post-tasseling stages. Estimating a damage control production function, we show that these behavioral adjustments are associated with a reduction in yield loss by 4.6% and align with farmer profit maximization. However, despite drones’ precision capabilities, per-round pesticide expenditure remains unchanged. Our findings demonstrate digital technologies’ potential to enhance yield at lower health risk while highlighting the need for policy interventions addressing institutional and technological barriers to unlock their environmental benefits.