China Economic Times reporter Wang Jingjing

On the morning of October 23rd, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the operation of agriculture and rural economy in the first three quarters of 2023.

Zeng Yande, Chief Agronomist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Director of the Development Planning Department, stated at a press conference that this year's grain production has overcome the rare "rotten field rain" in the Huang Huai region, severe floods in some areas of North and Northeast China, and local droughts in Northwest China. The output is expected to reach a new historical high and remain above 1.3 trillion catties for nine consecutive years.

According to the agricultural situation dispatch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of October 22, 81.3% of the national autumn grain has been harvested, and the majority of the autumn grain has been harvested. Zeng Yande stated that increasing autumn grain production this year is a foregone conclusion.

This year, the total area of corn planted in the county is 320000 mu, with a total output of 166000 tons, an average yield of 519 kilograms per mu, and a high yield of 844 kilograms per mu. Gao Yuqing, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Guantao County, Hebei Province, recently stated in an interview with the China Economic Times that the autumn harvest in Guantao County has been basically completed, and this year is another bumper harvest year. In his view, technology empowering digital agriculture is one of the key factors in accelerating and increasing efficiency during the "Three Autumn" period.

China attaches great importance to the development of digital agriculture. This year's No. 1 central document clearly pointed out that we should deeply implement the digital rural development action and promote the R&D and promotion of digital application scenarios; Accelerate the application of big data in agriculture and rural areas, and promote the development of smart agriculture.

He Jing, Director of the Finance Department at the School of Economics and Management of China Agricultural University, stated in an interview with the China Economic Times that digital agriculture strengthens the technological empowerment of agriculture, embeds digital means into the entire process of crop planting, growth, and harvesting, promotes the transformation and upgrading of agricultural production from the extensive mode of "relying on the weather to precision and intelligence, and helps increase agricultural production and income. It is an important way to achieve a strong agricultural country and the direction of future agricultural development.

As a traditional agricultural county, the development of digital agriculture in Guantao County is an important measure to continuously improve the level of agricultural information management. Gao Yuqing introduced that in recent years, Guantao County has comprehensively launched digital agriculture projects around building green agriculture, facility agriculture, efficient agriculture, brand agriculture, and smart agriculture. It has taken the lead in building an agricultural and rural big data center in Hebei Province, focusing on enhancing the technological content of agricultural development, empowering digital agriculture with technology, and helping to accelerate and increase efficiency in the "Three Autumn" period.

Since the launch of the 'Three Autumn' campaign, Guantao County has been fully committed to the digital agriculture model. Farmers can use the WeChat mini program 'Guantao Agricultural Service' to directly connect to the agricultural and rural big data center in their fields, fully grasp the relevant information such as soil moisture, pests and diseases, and timely understand the seeding information released by agricultural technicians, achieving fine irrigation, precise fertilization, precise pesticide application, and precise seeding. Guantao County has helped improve the quality and efficiency of agriculture through the digitization of agricultural production, achieving cost savings and efficiency improvement, "said Wang Huachao, Deputy Director of Guantao County Agriculture and Rural Bureau.

During the interview, a reporter from the China Economic Times learned that over 2000 intelligent sensors scattered throughout the county's farmland are "little assistants" that help farmers better manage their farmland and agricultural production. They can monitor various parameters such as soil moisture, temperature, light, pests and diseases on a regular basis, and transmit data to the central control system in real time. The central control system uses big data analysis and artificial intelligence technology to interpret and process these data in real time, providing scientific decision-making basis for farmland management.

Gao Yuqing further explained that, for example, when the sensor detects that the soil moisture is below a certain threshold, the system will automatically trigger the irrigation system to ensure that crops receive an appropriate amount of water. At the same time, these intelligent sensors are also connected to the farmers' WeChat mini program "Guantao Agricultural Service", allowing farmers to understand the situation of their own farmland anytime and anywhere. Through the mini program, farmers can receive real-time information about soil conditions, pest and disease warnings, and quickly take corresponding management measures.

To provide scientific basis for soil testing formula and first-hand information on land for digital agriculture, more than 60 science and technology envoys from Guantao County went deep into 480000 acres of farmland in the county, collected land samples, bagged and labeled the collected soil samples, marked the sampling time and location, and ensured the accuracy and scientificity of the testing data.

Zhang Gang, the relevant person in charge of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Guantao County, introduced that the organic combination of digital agriculture and technological services is a key link in achieving formula fertilization. By immersing all technology personnel in the front line, deeply collecting land basic information, comprehensively grasping the distribution of soil nutrients in the jurisdiction, collecting information and uploading it to the big data center, through data analysis, formulating soil testing formula and fertilization suggestions for each region, and reasonably guiding farmers to apply fertilizers scientifically, effectively improving soil organic matter content and achieving agricultural fertilization reduction and efficiency improvement on the basis of controlling fertilizer dosage and increasing fertilization rate.

Nowadays, digital agriculture in Guantao County has penetrated the entire process of "cultivation, management, and harvesting". After the autumn harvest, it's autumn sowing and sowing. It is reported that during the autumn planting process, the county also installed satellite positioning systems on more than 2100 deep tillage and seeding machines through agricultural machinery cooperatives, timely monitoring the progress of autumn planting in the county and providing first-hand information for serving the "Three Autumn" work.

Source: China Economic Times