Abstract: In recent years, with the development of technology and artificial intelligence, the improvement of agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)technology has become more and more perfect, the usage of agricultural UAV is increasing, and it has been increasingly applied to crops widely. Rice is the second largest food crop in China, and agricultural UAV have been widely used in the field of rice production. Agricultural UAV are mainly used in plant protection, aerial sowing and hybrid seed production. Compared with the traditional manual operation, the agricultural UAV for low-altitude operation has high efficiency, low labor intensity and uniform operation quality. It is much cheaper than manned large aircraft operation and can meet the needs of developing an efficient agricultural economy. In particular, China has developed a variety of suitable UAV for situations where ground machinery is difficult to operate in rice field. In this paper, the development status and the classification of the main types of agricultural UAV in both domestic and overseas related researches were summarized. The application status of agricultural UAV in rice plant protection, aerial sowing, hybrid seed production and other aspects in China, and the problems existing in the application of agricultural UAV in rice production were emphatically introduced. It was also proposed some suggestions to improve relevant laws, regulations and system standards, strengthen the research and development of UAV batteries and strengthen the research of special agents and additives with a view to provide references for further promoting the whole process mechanization and agricultural modernization of rice production in China.