学进去

Rice now has its own big data platform(大数据平台), announced last month by the China National Rice Research Institute, the platform records data throughout every stage of rice production, which includes collection, storage, and analysis. It will also publish reports to improve the service of rice production at regular times. Besides big data, other technology is aiding agriculture in China in recent years.

Flying above

Drones(无人机) play an important role in farming this spring. “Using drones to spread the nutrient solution(营养液) is much safer than doing it by hand,” Shi Zhenhai, a farmer in Henan who is responsible for about 113 hectares of wheat fields, told Henan Daily.

Shi added, “The more advanced drones I’ve bought recently can be loaded with 50 liters of liquid, which can be used to cover about 3.4-hectare farmland. With four drones working at the same time, it only takes three hours to finish spreading the solution over all of my land."

Monitoring on their own

A smart glass greenhouse used to grow tomatoes gets more than 120 patented(获得专利的) technologies. Located in Shandong, the demonstration base covers about 80,000 square meters but requires very few workers. Sensors(传感器) collect information about whether the plants can grow healthily and whether the room is ventilated(通风) enough. It is then uploaded to a platform to be analyzed(分析). As a result, the correct levels of water and fertilizer(肥料) are provided for the crops by the automatic irrigation system(灌溉系统). Robots and other devices are used to pick and transport tomatoes. With facilities to store heat, the structure does not use huge amounts of energy in winter, unlike traditional greenhouses.

“Growing crops in a controlled environment allows farmers to produce high-quality plants, keep high food safety standards, and avoid the use of pesticides(农药),” Wang Haiguang at the operations office of the greenhouse told China Daily.