Video of Farmer Being Transported by Large Drone to and from Fields in Tuban Goes Viral

A video showing a farmer or plantation worker being transported by an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, while commuting to and from plantation land has gone viral on social media. The video was uploaded to the TikTok account @mbahkaruhon.tiktok.com1. The account owner, Director of PT Bina Tani Makmur Jombang, Budianto (47), said the video was recently recorded on one of his plots in the Merakurak area, Tuban Regency, East Java. In the uploaded video, a farmer is seen recording himself being lifted using a rope connected to a large-capacity drone. A caption also states the drone was transporting the farmer home from the field to a vehicle parking area located 1.5 kilometres away. He confirmed the drone in the video is a unit owned by his company but noted it was not him riding the drone. “It wasn’t me riding the drone. The one riding [being transported by] the drone was the area work supervisor. He is my partner,” Budianto said when contacted by CNNIndonesia.com on Monday (6/7). He also permitted CNNIndonesia.com to republish the video already uploaded to his account. Budianto explained his company operates in the plantation and fruit trading sector, with harvests supplied to several modern retailers and local markets. Besides managing its own main plantation, the company collaborates with several farming partners across various regions of East Java to meet supply needs. Budianto recounted that the use of drones on his managed plantations originated from the need to irrigate agricultural land lacking adequate road access. The same applied to the Merakurak area in Tuban where the drone video was recorded. He stated the location is land owned by a landlord that had never been planted. It is situated in a muddy area near the coast. “The road access is impossible [difficult to traverse by vehicle], because there is no road,” he said. Consequently, Budianto and his partners agreed to use large-capacity agricultural drones to reach the inaccessible land. “So what’s the solution? Should we use a helicopter? Oh, that’s impossible. The permits are extensive. So use what? Use a drone. A large-capacity agricultural drone,” he said. He explained the drone was initially used to transport water or pesticides. However, because of its large capacity and ability to carry up to 150 litres of water or a 150-kilogramme load, the unmanned aircraft was modified to carry fertiliser, seeds, and other agricultural necessities. “It can carry 150 litres of water. So we modified it, we removed the water tank. We modified it. Then we attached a rope, a cord, a sling to tie up fertiliser or seeds,” he said. Besides transporting agricultural production inputs, Budianto revealed the drone also became a solution for young farmers whom he considered reluctant to carry manure to the planting fields. According to him, young workers or farmers are unwilling to transport manure manually even when offered high wages, so the drone was used as a solution so that the work could still be done by the younger generation without having to come into direct contact with animal waste. “We try to attract young people to work for us, but we can’t, Sir. They don’t want to, no one wants to, even with a high salary, they don’t want to. But if we provide a drone, well, they don’t handle the manure. The ones handling the manure are the older farm workers, those already accustomed to the smell of waste. The young ones are the operators and so on,” he said. Budianto admitted the drone was not purchased cheaply. He stated the price ranges from Rp320 million to Rp350 million per unit. “That large-capacity drone is priced similarly to a Fortuner [Toyota Fortuner SUV],” he said. Budianto explained there were actually several other content uploads on his TikTok showing the drone transporting fertiliser and seeds, but those videos were quiet and did not receive many responses. However, when he casually recorded and uploaded content of the drone transporting a farmer home from the fields, the netizen response was overwhelming. The video was watched millions of times and shared thousands of times. Budianto was surprised. “That was actually just for content. It was really just for fun. ‘Hey, try lifting me [the worker], is it strong enough? Wow, your weight [the worker] is only maybe 60 kg to 70 kg, if lifted, can it reach there? Yes, it can,’” he said. “It turned out to be full of comments. Wow, this TikTok is real. How come it has so many followers, thousands of comments, and even millions of views, Sir,” Budianto added. Regarding safety aspects, Budianto admitted he also considered safety in the practice of transporting workers using the drone, so the process is carried out one person at a time even though the drone is actually capable of carrying a 150 kg load or more than one person at once. “But we also think about safety, Sir. So just one at a time. The ascent is slow, and the descent is also slow,” he said.