Even as the enduring cycle of the seasons progresses and the weather warms up – with the land turning lush and green and spring plowing starting – major change is in the air at Zhutai town, administered by Zibo city in East China's Shandong province, in the shape of the future.
Intelligent agricultural machinery continues to be applied there, a process that began in recent years to increase efficiency and crop yields, with much more to come.
In 2019, Zibo Hefeng Seed Technology Co Ltd was established in Zibo, becoming the first unmanned eco-friendly farm in the country. Currently, the farming, planting, management and harvesting of its first phase – involving 500 mu (about 33.3 hectares) of land – has realized automated operations.
An intelligent irrigation machine evenly sprays water and fertilizer on a wheat field in Zibo owned by Zibo Hefeng Seed Technology, on April 6. [Photo/zbnews.net]
"With the moisture sensors, we can adjust irrigation to local conditions," said Xu Linsheng, a deputy general manager of the company.
Some 50 mobile solar panels are installed there to power the moisture sensors, which can detect temperature and humidity up to 40 centimeters beneath the surface of the soil.
"The detection data is analyzed by the intelligent platform of the farm command center, which works out the most scientific water and fertilizer management scheme, with some 100 sprinkler heads automatically adjusting the rate of watering," Xu added.
In addition, other kinds of unmanned equipment are gearing up for the wheat planting.
A man controls an aerial crop protection drone to spray wheat fields. [Photo/zbnews.net]
An aerial crop protection drone goes along preset flight paths, spraying the earth to prevent various root diseases.
According to Chen Zuoyi, deputy director of the scientific technology department of Hefeng Seed Technology, the unmanned drone can do in 30 minutes the task that used to take a worker a full day.
To top it off, unmanned machines now plough the fields in preparation for planting alfalfa, not only improving operational efficiency, but also making the sowing more uniform.
Elsewhere, relying on an intelligent system, Zhutai town in Zibo's Linzi district has established an unmanned eco-friendly farm of its own that works more than 4000 mu of land, realizing fully automated and mechanized farming.
