Technology Transforms Agriculture

By Feng Hua & Tan Xingyu

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Technology Transforms Agriculture

By Feng Hua & Tan Xingyu

Late April is a critical period for wheat cultivation in rural areas of Henan Province in Central China， when wheat heading and flowering is completed and priority is given to the prevention and control of diseases and pests. According to a forecast by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture， due to this year's El Ni?o， problems related to diseases and pests will be worse than normal in the coming months. Farmers will need to do everything they can to protect their crops.

The need to protect crops—and the lack of time to accomplish this task—has led farmers to come up with a unique solution. Drones are being used to spray insecticide over the nearly 7，000 hectares of wheat fields outside Anyang， a city in northern Henan. Zhang Haiwang， a 60-year-old local farmer，was deeply impressed with the new technology.

“Spraying insecticide with aircraft， it's really unbelievable，” Zhang said.

Wang Gang， head of the Anyang Plant Protection Station， said that changing from their original sprayer to drones has been enormously effective.

“The fuel-powered drone， with a loading capacity of 12 kilograms of liquid， can spray insecticide on 1.6 hectares of grain fields at a time， covering 26-33 hectares a day during peak season，” Wang illustrated.

Before the introduction of mechanized methods for spraying insecticides， farmers had to apply the spray themselves. This limited farmers to around 1.3 hectares per day. Mechanization greatly improved efficiency，but early machinery still ran into problems. When seedlings grow tall， most groundbased machinery cannot enter wheat fields.The use of drones solved this problem， while also making the process faster. This saves labor costs and has reduced pesticide use by about 30 percent due to more precise application.

There is another advantage that comes with drones. Downward airflow generated by a drone's propeller accelerates the formation of aerosol flow， enhancing the penetration of liquid droplets entering the crops. This also prevents as much as 90 percent of wheat rust（a fungal disease） and aphids.

High Returns

“Now， farming and irrigation have become more convenient，” Zhang said.“through a pipe and a water pump， we can easily water our fields. The work of seeding，spraying insecticide， fertilizing and harvesting is all done by machine now. It's very convenient.”

Zhang said that hiring a drone， which he affectionately calls a “flying farmer”， costs 120 yuan （US$18） per hectare， a price he finds affordable， cheaper than traditional methods.

Under the guidance of plant protection personnel， using new technology has seen“yields increase despite decreased use of pesticides and fertilizers”， according to Zhang. Yield per hectare has increased by 1，500 kilograms， though chemical fertilizer use has dropped by 10 kilograms. According to Zhang， this makes farming easier and more villagers like himself are willing to farm. He said he can take care of an entire hectare all on his own， which would not have been possible before the introduction of state-of-theart technology into Henan farms.

“Biological control methods can be used for corn planting， and trichogramma （a beneficial insect widely used in pest prevention）is particularly effective in preventing and controlling European corn borer （a type of invasive moth species），” Zhang added. “A lot of pests have been killed by solar insecticidal lamps mounted on the roadside. Such lamps shine at night， and even the villagers like walking under them now.”

Reduction of 150 kilograms of fertilizers per hectare and using two to three times less insecticide spray may not be significant to smaller-scale farmers like Zhang. But these reductions mean the most to large grain producers， who are able to cut costs on a grand scale. Geng Xinjun， who owns a large farm in Anyang County's Wadian Township， planted more than 20 hectares of wheat and cornin 2015. He found that using state-of-the-art technology can reduce costs by 3，000-4，500 yuan （US$455-$685） per hectare. This has saved him around 70，000 yuan （US$10，600）since he began using new technologies.

Drones are widely used in Chinese agriculture

This spring， Geng installed an integrated water and fertilizer sprinkler.

“This year， I only hired four workers，who completed the watering in just four days and nights，” Geng said. “The charges for water， electricity and labor totaled only 5，400 yuan （US$820）， much less than the 10，000 yuan （US$1530） I spent in previous years. In addition， the integrated water and fertilizer sprinkler has a better irrigation effect while consuming less fertilizer， and can further reduce use of fertilizer by 5 kilograms.”

Science and Technology

There are many other ways advanced technology has been applied to Chinese farming in recent years. Tianye Group， a chemical company based in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， has developed drip irrigation technology that boosts rice yields. As a result， this new technology has ensured stable increases in rice output across China， as well as saving water， land and labor. Water consumption drops by 60 percent when Tianye technologies are applied.

The process from planting to harvesting of an agricultural product can be viewed through a quality tracking system developed by the Xinjiang Changji National Agricultural Science and Technology Park. Electronic archives have been established for all agricultural products. through a computer， the park workers can control insecticidal lamps and microbial sprays， as well as monitor temperature， humidity， rainfall， seedlings and pests in real time. They can also publish crop information to the national network for crop pest and disease monitoring.

Mechanization based on scientific findings has done much to benefit agriculture in recent years. Alaer City， located in the Tarim Basin， is the largest cotton production base in Xinjiang. For many years， cotton picking depended on manual labor， requiring significant manpower， so that migrant workers from other parts of the country traveled a long way there to help. In recent years， however， with the introduction of cotton picking machines， demands for workers to pick cotton have dropped off sharply.

Li Mingzhao， who works as a cotton farmer， said mechanization is transforming his livelihood.

“It used to be that picking a hectare of cotton would cost more than 15，000 yuan（US$2，280）. But now， using the picking machine， we can save as much as 10，500 yuan（US$1，615） per hectare， and complete picking four hectares' worth in just half a day，” Li said.

Farmers today can apply a multitude of agricultural technologies to cut costs and improve crop yields. Chinese companies are on the forefront of this revolution， doing their part to boost the world's food security and agricultural sustainability.