Written by: People's Daily
Posted on: July 27, 2018 | 
| 中文
A new method of breeding high quality seeds
In recent years, the “Internet + model” and AI technology have greatly affected the farming industry by promoting innovation in agricultural engineering and transforming traditional cultivation to modern cultivation civilization.
The year 2017 witnessed robust growth of China’s modern agriculture technology. The increasing penetration of “Internet +model” into agriculture gives rise to rural e-commerce. Meanwhile platforms built under “internet + model” are offering farmers timely guidance of agricultural production and chances to gain agricultural knowledge about breeding quality seeds, fertilization and pickup etc. Consumers on the other hand, have easier access to communication with farmers directly through internet platforms and gives them a chance to take a closer look at the whole production process of agricultural products.
Xie Lingyun, general manager of Youguo Management Co, Ltd., told us the story of how her strawberry brand “Meimei” came into being, in the multi-functional hall of Westing Hotel in Financial Street, Beijing, China. Right behind her was a changing LED screen, alternatively displaying scrupulous graphs, fascinating scenery of Li Shui (a small town close to Nanjing) and scenes of people working on the farm. The exhibition venue was decorated with a variety of strawberry-shaped bouquets, with a perfect combination of color, aroma and taste. Visitors were generously treated with strawberry-made dishes. If anyone wanted to buy some, a simple QR code did the job.
Besides, there are also orange and apple brands namely “Cool Orange,” and “Good Branch” etc. 20 similar brands are to be developed as planned 5 years after the company first started.
Likewise, more and more e-businesses are turning their eyes to Chinese rural areas. According to the statistics from Ali Research Institute, in more than 2100 Taobao villages, daily active online shops have exceeded 490,000 and are creating 2.8 direct job opportunities, with each new shop opening. It is estimated that more than 1,300,000 direct job openings are going to be created by the grass-root level start-ups.
More importantly, what “Internet + Model” means for farmers is that they are getting a chance to gain farming related professional knowledge. Farmers from Gaotai County of Gansu Province, who have started using mobile apps are inviting professionals and scholars from agricultural research institutions such as the China Agriculture Academy for suggestions and advice, and now have access to sales channel searching and planting and cultivation techniques exchanging. Thanks to computer networks, crab farmers from Jintan District, Jinhua of Zhejiang Province, have managed to accurately control water quality, water temperature and oxygen level indexes so that quality crabs are bred through standardized healthy farming techniques.
Speaking of AI, it is undoubtedly one of the hottest tech buzz words in recent years sweeping all fields of industry. Agriculture is undergoing the same revolutionary change right now as other industries. In the farmland of the city of Linyi of Shandong, two China-made Lovol Tractors are operating multiple farming tasks under automatic navigation without drivers; lifting equipment, adjusting throttle and aligning. Both of them work 24 hours a day and are not subject to weather and light conditions. The tractor, a hi-tech combination of 3D Tech Optimization, global satellite system and GPS navigation, integrates functions of electronic hydraulic power steering system for automatic operating, automatic lifting of equipment and adjusting throttle and an emergent remote brake system. With these functions, precision drilling, fertilizing, ridging and spraying can be easily realized in an automatic way.
On the 20th of December last year, DJI Innovation Technology Ltd., Co released a series of plant protecting autopilot models in Shenzhen. One DJI autopilot hovers around a coverage of 300 acres, fully able to overcome geographical difficulties in hilly and mountainous areas that are not friendly to manual labor. Compared to the traditional ways of protecting plants, using driverless autopilots saves 80-90% of water resources, 30-40% of pesticides and results in killing of 95% pests.
The year 2017 also witnessed a promising breakthrough in innovations of planting industry in China, among which a discovery of a new breed of rice particularly stands out. 16th October, 2017 marked the day of the release of a whole new breed called “giant rice,” announced by the work team of Xia Xinjie from Institute of Subtropical Agriculture of Chinese Academy of Science.
28th September, 2017 was another marked day for the salinity tolerance rice project, led by Yuan Longping, the father of Hybrid Rice. The highest crop yield of the pilot farm reached 620.95 kilograms per Chinese mu (=0.15 acre), according to the figures from Qingdao Sea Water Rice Research and Development Centre and State Demonstration Base for Jinkou Township Rice Genetic Improvement. “Salinity Tolerance Rice”, nicknamed “Seawater Rice” is expected to be regularly planted on mudflat areas and produce as much grain as it does on any other cultivated lands.
Professor Yuan proclaimed another breakthrough at the national exhibition of the new rice breed and related technology, that a new type of anti-Chromium rice is set to be developed. This means that the day has come where people will be protected from harmful Chromium consumption present in their daily diet.
Translated by Yang Jing
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