82-year-old Chinese pensioner goes viral after learning to fly agricultural drones and sell her produce online

An 82-year-old pensioner from China, known as the “fearless grandmother”, has gone viral after proving that age is no barrier to learning new technologies.

The pensioner learned to fly drones Photo: Xinhua

Dai Shuying impressed with his ability to operate agricultural drones and do live streaming to sell his farm products.

Born in 1943 in Laomei Village, Anhui Province, Dai worked as an accountant in her youth, being one of the few literate people in her community.

While raising five children, she remained in the village and later lived with her eldest son and grandson Wang Tiantian, managing more than 40 hectares of farmland together, according to scmp.

His connection with drone technology began by chance, when his grandson brought home a device for fertilizing fields.

Curiosity led Dai to learn how to use it. Under her grandson's guidance, she learned to mount the 15-kilogram batteries, prepare the drone for flight, load it with fertilizer and accurately spray the entire field.

Thanks to the use of drones, farm productivity has increased significantly.

In the past, it could only fertilize about 10 hectares of land per day, while now the drone allows fertilizing 40 hectares in the same period, saving time and effort.

Furthermore, Wang created a short video account titled “Old Farmer, Gratefully Beloved”, where he presented the daily activities of his grandmother.

In these videos, Dai can be seen piloting the drone and interacting with the online audience.

To supplement their income, the two started doing live broadcasts, selling rice, oil and other products grown on their farm.

“Grandma learns very quickly, but the most important thing is patience”, said her nephew.

“Even after 80 years, the greatest joy is to be able to discover the world and learn new things”, says Dai Shuying.