Modern agricultural technologies, machines facilitate spring farming

Modern agricultural technologies and machines are now widely used in China, facilitating the country’s farming activities as spring farming gets underway across its rural landscape.

Drones were used to spray pesticides on 1,600 mu (about 106.67 hectares) of oilseed rapes at a planting base in Renmei township, Danling county, southwest China’s Sichuan Province on Feb. 8, 2023.

A technician maintains a farming machine at a provincial grain production demonstration zone in Xin'an township of Deqing county, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Jan. 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Xie Shangguo)

“Our drone has a loading capacity of 100 liters, which can be used for 20 mu of land,” said Li Kexue, head of a cooperative in the county. A drone can spray 20 mu of land in less than 20 minutes.

Spraying pesticides with a drone is efficient and saves time, labor and money, Li said. According to him, it takes about one week for 50 workers to manually spray pesticides on 1,600 mu of oilseed rapes, and the workers’ per capita wage for each mu of land is 24 yuan (about $3.52). But two drones can complete the same workload in two days, costing 8 yuan per mu of land.

On the same day, rollers and hose reel irrigation machines were used in wheat fields at Xizhai village, Tianzhuang township, Qingdao city, east China’s Shandong Province.

Meanwhile, agricultural experts are providing technological guidance for farmers during the spring farming season across China.

North China’s Shanxi Province recently held a meeting via video link, calling on departments in the locality to ensure timely spring farming and preparation.

During the spring farming season, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Shanxi Province will arrange for technical departments to issue guidelines on the production of grain and oil crops, set up expert teams for the production of wheat, corn and other crops, and assign agricultural technicians to guide farmers and implement technical measures to increase production and farmers’ incomes.

“Farming season passes no matter what happens. Watering and fertilizing farmlands in a timely manner and preventing plant diseases and insect pests can ensure a bumper harvest,” said Chen Bingqiang, a senior agronomist at the agro-tech extension and service center of Qingdao, at a wheat field in Xizhai village on Feb. 8.

According to Chen, Qingdao has so far planted 3.49 million mu of winter wheat, 60,000 mu more than a year ago, and the wheat is growing well, laying a sound foundation for a bumper harvest this summer.