Smart agriculture platform facilitates farming in China’s Henan

An unmanned agricultural machine works at a demonstration zone of high-standard farmland in Wadian township, Anyang county, central China’s Henan Province. (Photo/Ji Kun)

A smart agriculture platform has facilitated farming at a demonstration zone of high-standard farmland in Wadian township, Anyang county, central China’s Henan Province.

“I can irrigate over 400 mu (26.67 hectares) of land on my mobile phone,” said Zhang Xianzhi, head of a planting cooperative in Anyang county, who praised the construction of high-standard farmland.

Zhang said he can control water to irrigate wheat fields in real time by logging into the smart agriculture platform on his phone. “The application of technologies enables local grain growers to embrace smart farming,” he said.

Li Gang, director of the agricultural technology service center in Wadian township, said that the smart agriculture platform has reduced water and electrical consumption and significantly reduced farmers’ costs for growing grain.

This year, the planting area for winter wheat in China exceeded 330 million mu, and wheat is growing well, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. To ensure a bumper summer harvest, over 120 experts have gone to 15 major grain- and oil-producing provinces to guide farming together with local agricultural technicians.