During the Beginning of Spring season, the modern industrial park and seedling center in San'er Village, Pingchuan Town, Linze County, is filled with rows of solar greenhouses radiating warmth. Wang Lei, an employee at Hengyuan Agricultural Technology Development Co., Ltd., along with his colleagues, is meticulously inspecting and calibrating vertical rotating seedling machines and various sensors. With a light touch, the scene of technology empowering spring farming gradually unfolds. As a member of the younger generation of modern agriculturists, he is using digital methods to transform the traditional modes of spring ploughing and preparation. The old practices of farming that relied on favorable weather and manual monitoring are quietly being replaced by new, intelligent methods based on data and automated control.
Stepping into the glass solar greenhouse, rows of vertical rotating seedling machines are neatly arranged, slowly turning. This equipment ensures each seedling receives uniform light, completely solving the problem of uneven illumination in traditional seedling cultivation. "This machine is the main force in spring seedling cultivation. Paired with a customized insulation system, it maximizes seedling growth," Wang Lei explained while adjusting the device. The greenhouse utilizes a combination of double-layer 12cm insulated quilts, specially made sun panels, and tempered glass on top, making it particularly suitable for the Northwest region. This design allows for faster temperature increase during the day and slower heat dissipation at night, maintaining a temperature at least 5°C higher than ordinary solar greenhouses, creating a constant temperature barrier for seedling growth.
The secret to the intelligence of the seedling center lies in the sensors scattered throughout and the screens of mobile phones. As a modern agriculturist deeply involved in fieldwork, Wang Lei has grown accustomed to using digital technology to safeguard the spring farming process. "The seedling center is connected to the Internet of Things. There's no need to stay in the greenhouse; all key operations can be handled with a mobile phone," Wang Lei said. Opening a mobile app, he demonstrated one-touch control for operations like deploying or retracting sunshades, automatically flipping seedling trays, starting or stopping fans, and adjusting temperature and humidity—efficient and convenient. He admitted that these online operations not only significantly boost production efficiency but also notably reduce labor costs, shifting spring seedling cultivation from being time-consuming and labor-intensive to time-saving and convenient.
The application of digital technology has also brought visible improvements in profitability. "Using vertical rotating seedling machines can shorten the seedling cycle by about 15 days, save 80% of the seedling area, reduce costs by 30%, maintain a stable seedling emergence rate of 95%, and increase seedling yield per square meter by more than six times," Wang Lei calculated. He noted that operating at full capacity, this greenhouse can cultivate 40,000 trays of seedlings, meeting the demands for 1,000 acres of vegetable planting, thereby solidifying the foundation for subsequent spring sowing.
In Wang Lei's operational demonstration, various sensors act like the "wise eyes" of agricultural production, continuously capturing key data such as air temperature and humidity, soil temperature and humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, light intensity, and soil EC values. This data is analyzed by an intelligent management platform, which then automatically coordinates temperature control, humidity control, and light regulation equipment to create an optimal environment for seedling growth. In later planting stages, a smart integrated water-fertilizer system can automatically mix nutrient solutions and perform precise drip irrigation based on the growth needs of different vegetable varieties and soil moisture conditions. This achieves intelligent and precise utilization of water and fertilizer, reducing resource waste while improving crop quality.
Wang Lei's spring farming practices are a vivid example of Linze County's push for agricultural digital transformation. In recent years, the county has used the construction of high-standard farmland as a platform to integrate farmland information and build intelligent management platforms. Focusing on smart facility agriculture and digital farmland management, it drives a profound shift in agricultural production from reliance on experience to reliance on data. This initiative is making advanced tools like "clairvoyance," "clairaudience," and a "golden touch" standard equipment for modern agriculturists during spring farming, leading more and more farmers into a new era of intelligent cultivation.
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