On the way taking us to his family’s coffee hillside, Mùa A Nhìa recalled that when the equipment supplier came to hand over the device and provide on-site operational instructions toward the end of August 2026, villagers from neighboring hamlets gathered in large numbers to watch. Everyone was astonished and curious about a buzzing aircraft capable of spraying water and liquid fertilizer as evenly as rainfall. Some even quipped that A Nhìa bought an airplane to “make rain” for his coffee trees, making the crowd even more enthusiastic. For several days afterward, A Nhìa brought the device out to the hillside to operate it and explain the features and utility of UAVs for hillside coffee farming to fellow villagers.

Pausing before his coffee hillside sprawling across the slope, A Nhìa shared that in 2011, his family began planting coffee on lower hillside land close to the village. Having accumulated experience and capital from selling fresh cherries, he decided to convert all his rice and corn plots to coffee. Today, his family’s 5ha coffee orchard has entered full harvest, bringing economic prosperity.

A Nhìa recounted that in earlier days, on steep hillsides, the Hmông people in Chế Á and villages atop Pha Đin Pass were accustomed solely to upland rice and corn. Degraded soils and severe weather resulted in low yields, leaving many families in enduring hardship. Quite a few had to leave their hometown to find new land for subsistence. However, A Nhìa’s family chose to stay. To escape poverty, he realized that he had to change production practices first, so he proactively visited Hmông villages in Thuận Châu, Sơn La province, to learn how to intercrop coffee with corn. Equipped with knowledge, he purchased seedlings to cultivate an initial 4,000m² hillside plot. After two years, the coffee trees yielded their first trial harvest; A Nhìa and his wife hand-picked ripe cherries to sell, using the earnings as seed capital to buy fertilizer and more seedlings to expand the acreage. At that point, his family became one of the households in Chế Á earning substantial revenue from coffee trees.

Attached to coffee cultivation, A Nhìa also understood the immense labor required on steep slopes. Therefore, when learning about unmanned aerial vehicles serving agricultural production, he found a game changer. For several consecutive days, he lay at home browsing websites and articles introducing agricultural UAVs. Recognizing the superior utility of UAVs over manual methods, he watched a live operational demonstration in Mường Ảng commune, where a UAV sprayed a 1ha hillside coffee orchard in just 10 minutes, whereas manual labor required two people working for three full days.

Convinced by the superior efficacy of UAVs, A Nhìa contacted the supplier to purchase a unit valued at nearly VND 400 million to tend his orchard. He happily recounted that when he called to request consultations, the representative on the other end was astonished, asking repeatedly whether he truly lived in Chế Á village, Điện Biên province, because nobody in Điện Biên had purchased such equipment yet. Only after he gave firm confirmation and transferred a deposit did they believe him.

As scheduled, company staff traveled from Hà Nội to deliver the machinery to his house, instructed A Nhìa on operating it, and conducted test flights directly on the hillside. The company also committed to warranty terms and operational monitoring to provide timely technical support should problems arise. The trial flight at his family’s coffee plot attracted crowds from Chế Á and adjacent villages. Witnessing modern technology on a coffee hillside for the first time, villagers felt both intrigued and thrilled, remarking that A Nhìa was genuinely capable and that bringing technology to the hillsides would substantially ease the hardships of Hmông coffee growers.

We arrived in Chế Á village right when A Nhìa brought out the UAV to spray and water fields for villagers free of charge. Having completed training and obtained an aircraft operating license, he navigated the device with confidence. Nevertheless, before each flight, he directly surveyed the terrain, mapped out treatment zones, set flight paths, calculated chemical mixtures, and chose suitable timing alongside takeoff and landing spots. Because each coffee hillside features varying elevations, slopes, and obstacles, a UAV pilot must harmonize operating techniques with crop tending experience to ensure uniform spray coverage, avoiding oversaturated spots or missed patches. Aerial imagery captured during flight also assists him in pinpointing underperforming trees or signs of pest infestation to take prompt countermeasures and advise villagers on tending methods.

Giàng A Dế, Secretary of the Quài Tở commune Party Committee, enthusiastically commented that although newly deployed in production, initial results show this equipment can maximize effectiveness across numerous crop varieties. The commune expects that adopting UAVs will help elevate coffee productivity and quality in Chế Á village and Quài Tở commune as a whole.

Prior to the rollout of the two-tier local administrative model, A Nhìa served as Deputy Commander of the Military Command of the former Tỏa Tình commune in Tuần Giáo district. During administrative apparatus restructuring, he voluntarily stepped down, facilitating cadre rearrangement for the locality. Since July 1, 2025, A Nhìa has concentrated wholeheartedly on cultivating his family’s coffee crop.

When Quài Tở commune carried out national target programs and mobilized residents to restructure cropping patterns, A Nhìa joined commune cadres in conducting outreach and guiding farmers to expand production. Becoming the first local individual to invest nearly VND 400 million in purchasing a UAV for crop care highlights the vanguard spirit of a Party member in adopting agricultural technology. Through his pioneering work, A Nhìa is actively helping villagers in Chế Á village boldly access and implement modern production techniques.