♪ china has enjoyed tremendous economic growth since the 1990s.

this has been largely fueled by young migrants from rural areas providing a ready source of cheap labor. people in the countryside still typically earn just a third of the average city worker. for that reason, most never move back to their hometowns. parents who stayed behind to tend to fields are now aging. behind the prosperity of urban china, rural areas feeding the nation's 1.4 billion are witnessing a dramatic drop in the farming population. younger generations are now starting to revolutionize approaches to agriculture. this young man is determined to bring back success to his father's struggling farm.

there are also entrepreneurs looking to automatt farming using the latest technologies. the new generation of farmers is firmly rooted in the internet age. in this episode, we meet china's young farmers, finding pride in their work as they search for prosperity in a changing world. this is located in southern

china. it's village has been known for liche production. roughly 3,000 people are residents here, but more than half have migrated to the cities, returning just once a year. two years ago, this man came back to take over his father's lemon orchard. he studied machine engineering in vocational school and worked in maintenance at a foreign auto maker. the first thing he did when he returned was to animate the agricultural machines. he uses drones to spray pesticides and fertilizer to reduce manual labor.

the drones are controlled by a smartpho smartphone. users simply choose which farm work to implement. to spread fertilizer on the 20 hector lemon orchard, it used to take 20 stays to secure workers. now fertilizer can be sprayed exactly when it's needed.

the lemon orchard is the largest in his village. his father had expanded it in

just one generation. born as the eldest son in a poor farming household, he left high school to attend his family's small farm. in china, land can be bought or sold. people can only rent the right

to use the land. the first land he acquired was borrowed from friends whose city jobs meant they no longer had use for it. he paid his friends for the 0.6 hector plot surrounded by hills with the money he earned as a broker and used it to grow le n lemo lemons. the first lemons he harvested fetched a high price at the local market. recently wholesale prices have slumped as others followed suit. with lemons failing to turn the profit they once did, rent for such a large orchard has become a burden.

consumer needs are shifting from quantity to quality. he has never lived outside the village and worries he is too set in his ways to change. recently many farmers had been renting out their land and quitting agriculture or working hart time at large scale farms. a dwindling and aging world

population means communities are facing a serious lack of manpower. one company is trying to solve agricultural problems using the latest technology. xag was launched in 2007 by two young men from rural farming villages. it now employed over 500 people. at first, the firm developed conventional drones. then in 2013 it began working on agricultural models. their first specialized drone caught people's attention, leading to a rapid surge in business. now the firm develops agricultural field sensors and is aiming to collect big data. this data can then be used to help them further develop. in a highly competitive

industry, the company carefully guards its rnd secrets. behind closed doors, new possibilities are constantly being explored.

these engineers are in charge of developing agriculture equipment to mount on droneses interchahangeablettachments can diversefy the work drones do. in the future, they will be equipped with insect sensors.

xag partners with pardon ming families throughout the country partnering to help them tailored agricultural products and solutions. in late may, he is preparing for a trip to meet with a young man who runs an orchard. the two met online a year ago and have been discussing work related problems since. the friend lives in a neighboring province.

the 550 kilometers between the two villages is about half a day's journey by highway. when his father asked him about new ways to sell lemons, he was unable to offer much advice. in university, he studied management, later setting up an

online retail site. two years later, he started helping in his father farm and has now become a brand recognized all over china. he hopes to learn branding methods. but since they're meeting in person for the first time, he's unsure how many knowledge hee will be willing to share.

rather t than borrowing land, h contracts local farmers to produce on their land. that way he can secure labor without rent overheads.

additionally, w when p products don't sell for a good price locally, he sells them in other provinces instead. this is the website that she developed. for the post part, he lets

online distributors sell his products. this demonstrates the entire cultivation history, from the first bloom to harvest time. it shows not only images, but datata-like temperature e chang exposure to sunlight and details on fertilizer and pesticide use. chun manages 21 farming families. his parents' orchard is also in this area. going on the slopes or trees bearing citrus fruit called honey pamelo. the process of creating his brand wasn't easy. his first challenge was to convince the surrounding farms to reduce their pesticide use,

but no one listened to him. his father helped overcome that hurdle. he asked his long time friends to help his son. even though each orchard is separated by several kilometers from the next, he visited all his neighbors almost daily. a shared history of past struggles has led to strong bonds of community.

chun's father also gathered support to help his son refurbish roads that were getting water logged. each family had to shoulder their own costs, prompting some to resist, but eventually everyone felt the benefits.

help them improve efficiency. they learned how to cut costs by bulk buying fertilizer as well the importance of product and avoiding overuse. chun also helped farmers to analyze soil quality, procur fertilizer, set up necessary equipment and f finance costs. what shocked everyone was the degree of thinning of fruit required, giving a much reduced harvest. until then, locals produced as much as they could and sold everything to local markets. but he traveled all over china finding shops willing to pay more for quality.

the two men had both worked in the cities and began helping their fathers back home. his efforts surprised the imagination. just having the same information won't be enough to replicate that.

he stayed for three days. they talked day and night about

the future of farming. on the last day, he showed him a special place. they arrived at a tower apartment in the center of the city.

he was introduced to a production firm specializing in videos for smartphones. it's a company he invested in to advertise his products. in china, such videos have a huge impact. this year he will work with his company to create a major agricultural ad campaign. in september he plans to invite famous online celebrities to his

town for a live stream to broadcast. chun is pioneering a more open and interacting a approach to t processs of food production, on that can give his customers full faith in his product. his journey has come to an end.

back home, he discusses with his father about changing their sales method. he has decided to use the farmland his father first rented as a test case. young people who studied in the city are beginning to return to their villages, hoping to use their knowledge to better manage their parents farmland. little by little they're starting to taste the fruits of their fresh ideas and hard work.

>> an iranian oil tanker is released by gibraltar. ♪ >> you are watching al jazeera live from london. banned. congress women from entering israel, calling it an insult. indian and pakistani forces exchange fire across kashmir. deaths on both sides. in the