A pair of post-90s entrepreneurs from Xinjiang are redefining modern agriculture by managing a sprawling 3,000-mu cotton field located on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Yuli County. Their vision is simple yet ambitious: "We want farming to feel like playing a video game, where each year is a new level that brings both a sense of achievement and a fat wallet."

The vast cotton field stretches seamlessly, yet no laborers are bending over to pick cotton. Instead, drones occasionally sweep across the sky. Standing at the edge of the field, Ai Haipeng watches his phone screen, where real-time data on drone battery levels and pesticide inventory updates continuously.

After graduating from South China Agricultural University in 2013, Ai Haipeng returned to Xinjiang. By 2015, he had joined XAG, a Cantonese agricultural technology company centered on drone innovation. According to Frost & Sullivan data, XAG ranked second globally in both the agricultural robot and agricultural drone industries in 2024, holding market shares of 10.7% and 17.1%, respectively.

"In the past, farming meant 'facing the soil with your back to the sky,' but now field management is far less strenuous. We can dress neatly, keep the mud off our trousers, and still have plenty of time for socializing and travel," Ai Haipeng observed. He notes that an increasing number of post-90s and post-00s individuals are returning to their hometowns to take over family farmland, drawn by a management model that is both profitable and conducive to a quality lifestyle. The dream of "farming like gaming" is gradually becoming a reality.

The "super cotton field" model is expanding rapidly across Xinjiang. In Yuli County, XAG has sold over 15,000 sets of smart agricultural equipment, serving 101 farms and covering 148,000 mu of farmland. Across the entire region, sales have surpassed 200,000 units, benefiting more than 2,300 farms and managing over 2.01 million mu of agricultural land.