Smart farming drives rural vitalization in Shandong's Juye
In winter, a machine equipped with the new Beidou automatic assisted driving system works in a carrot field in Longbu town, Juye county, Shandong. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
In winter, at a 600-mu (0.4 hectare) carrot farm in Longbu town, Juye county, Shandong, a piece of agricultural machinery engages in multiple farming activities with the new Beidou navigation automatic assisted driving system. It seamlessly completes tasks such as trenching, ridging, seeding, covering, laying irrigation, and compacting in one go.
"The Beidou system is very convenient. Once the point A and point B are set, you just need to start the machine, only using the steering wheel when turning corners. The rows of carrots planted are almost perfectly straight," explained Deng Haiying, head of an agricultural farm in Longbu town.
When Deng plants off-season carrots, she spaces the plants and rows by hand, and then entrusts all remaining work to the machinery, which is more precise and efficient.
"With traditional methods, 20 mu of land could be planted in 10 hours. With the Beidou navigation automatic assisted driving system, 40 mu can be planted within 10 hours, saving not only time but also half of the labor. What used to take over 10 workers, can be done with five or six," said Deng.
As a tech-savvy "new farmer", Deng is an early adopter of technologies such as drones, satellite positioning, and line planting techniques in agricultural production. Her carrots boast excellent shape, color, taste, and marketability, yielding around 10,000 kilograms per mu twice a year, with profits exceeding 30,000 yuan ($4,120.6) per mu.
With the continuous advancement of rural vitalization and the application of intelligent technologies such as big data and mobile internet, more than 10,000 "new farmers" like Deng are active in Juye, bringing new concepts, technologies, and formats to rural economic development and the transformation of traditional agriculture. (Edited by Xie Zhenzhen)
