Smart agriculture boosts vitality in Zhejiang

Besides promoting digital agricultural technology, it enhances the work efficiency of farmers.

Xu Yuejin, a 66-year-old grain farmer, has witnessed the technological advancement of agriculture, as he is now used to using not just primitive hoes, but tractors and drones.

He is responsible for the project's rice planting. His unmanned rice transplanter is equipped with a driverless information system, which can realize automatic rice transplanting and unmanned operations through the internet and Beidou satellite navigation system.

"I have been farming for most of my life and now I can save a lot of labor costs by using unmanned machinery," said Xu.

Xu added that in addition to automatic farming, the base can also realize automatic irrigation, which can save 10 percent of labor costs per year, and save more water while increasing production capacity.

Haishu Future Farm has also built a seedling-raising center, introducing the most advanced seedling-raising equipment across the country. It stresses competitiveness that enables the district to not only meet the needs of its people, but also lead national agricultural development.

In July last year, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly held the country's first on-site promotion meeting for digital rural construction in the province, promising to build Zhejiang as the nation's first digital rural area.

Last month, they signed an official cooperation agreement to jointly build a digital rural leading area in Zhejiang, marking the construction of the country's first leading digital village area.

Zhejiang will put more energy into the construction of digital villages in the next few years and strive to build 1,000 digital agricultural factories, 100 future farms and 1,000 rural demonstration villages across the province by 2027.

It is estimated to generate 180 billion yuan ($26.1 billion) in agricultural product retail sales online.

Zhejiang will further accelerate the speed of agricultural and rural digital reform, including industry digital efficiency enhancement, digital service quality improvement, cultural revitalization, governance ability and digital infrastructure improvement in rural areas.

In terms of industrial efficiency, Zhejiang will begin implementing smart agricultural projects, deepen the construction of agricultural industry smart brains and comprehensively integrate industrial, supply, capital and innovation chains.

It will also accelerate the construction of digital agricultural factories and future farms, actively cultivate village livestreaming businesses and seek other new forms of agricultural and rural business.

In addition, Zhejiang will speed up the construction of 5G base stations in rural areas and promote the digital transformation of farmland, water conservancy, road building and cold chain logistics.