Smart Technology Empowers Spring Ploughing Across China
As spring unfolds across China from south to north, spring ploughing is well underway in line with the farming season. Across fields and rural areas, a strong sense of technology permeates the land, presenting a vivid picture of intelligent agriculture. Beidou Navigation guides agricultural machinery with precision, digital sensors quietly monitor crop growth, and technologies such as intelligent seedling raising, UAV plant protection, AI inspection and soil testing for formulated fertilization are deeply integrated into the entire process of ploughing, sowing, management and fertilization, transforming farming from experience-based to data-driven and from labor-intensive to intelligent and efficient. Seeking productivity from technology and initiating spring ploughing with wisdom, the new agricultural productive forces are taking root in the fields, laying a solid foundation for a good start in spring ploughing.
In Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, farmers or agricultural machinery operators can release work demands or job-seeking information on the "Didi Agricultural Machinery" platform to receive orders online, according to Xinhua News Agency. Li Jinwei, person in charge of Laibin Jinxin Agriculture Co., Ltd., opened his mobile phone and released a recruitment notice for agricultural machinery operators on the platform to start spring ploughing on 600 mu of sugarcane fields. Shortly after, Ling Yansong, an agricultural machinery operator, took the initiative to contact him, confirmed the working time and location, and completed the order online.
"We can find job information on the 'Didi Agricultural Machinery' platform and contact the employers directly if it suits us. When there is no work, we can also release job-seeking information on the platform, and farmers in need of agricultural machinery can contact us," said Ling, adding that the online platform helps achieve precise matching between machinery and operators, saving time and effort. Ruan Huijie, person in charge of Ningming Chunlaihao Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative in Chongzuo, Guangxi, noted that their cooperative had received over 3,700 mu of orders after finishing early rice seedling raising this year, among which more than 2,200 mu were obtained through the platform.
The "Didi Agricultural Machinery" platform, a WeChat mini-program developed by Guangxi to integrate agricultural machinery and farming resources, provides one-stop matching services for farmers and operators. Similar smart agricultural models are also emerging in other regions. In Pengshan District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, seedling trays move circularly on three-dimensional frames in intelligent seedling greenhouses, like taking an "elevator", according to Xinhua News Agency.
"Traditional seedling raising relies on the weather, occupying much land and requiring a lot of labor, and it is vulnerable to extreme weather," said Wang Chenglin, a large-scale grain grower in Pengshan District. He added that four sets of current equipment cover less than 400 square meters, with a seedling raising area equivalent to more than 10 mu of land in the past; the seedling raising cycle has been shortened from 30 days to 18-20 days, and it can be used cyclically three times a season.
Beidou Navigation has also become a key force in intelligent spring ploughing. In Shuixi Village, Linjiang Town, Pucheng County, Fujian Province, transplanters equipped with Beidou Navigation systems shuttle across the fields, inserting seedlings evenly along preset routes. "In the past, machine transplanting required at least two people to cooperate, one driving and the other placing seedlings," said Xu Zhengang, a machine operator. "Now, we only need to set the operation plot, parameters and routes in advance, and the transplanter can work automatically."
At the Yinong Rice Smart Farm in Guigang, Guangxi, the Beidou Navigation intelligent driving system enables fully unmanned ploughing, and driverless transplanters and UAVs complete operations independently. "We only need to issue instructions through the App, and the driverless harvester can move at a constant speed along the preset route to finish cutting, threshing and straw crushing, realizing 24-hour uninterrupted operation," said Li Hancai, the farm’s person in charge. With the empowerment of smart technology, China’s spring ploughing is moving towards a more efficient, precise and modern future.
