The China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) and the Alibaba Foundation jointly announced the Small Agricultural Machinery program last November.

Aimed primarily at small farmers, the program is also open to new rural cooperatives. Leveraging the rural social governance network, it promotes the development of modern agriculture in China’s rural areas through measures, including donating agricultural machinery and equipment, establishing a mechanism to connect farmers and lead farmers, and conducting skills training.

After half a year of preparation, the program’s launch ceremony was held in Yongshun County, Hunan Province, on the morning of May 29. Representatives from the Alibaba Foundation, the China Foundation for Rural Development, and governments, rural cooperatives, and agricultural machinery operators from more than a dozen beneficiary villages attended the ceremony.

The program plans to provide unmanned rail vehicles, plant protection drones and other agricultural machinery suitable for the local area, and to carry out mechanized tea industry production pilot projects.

Additionally, the program will assist cooperatives in setting up plant protection drone flight service teams, help local farmers find nearby employment, and provide relevant vocational training.