"Would you believe I can carry hundreds of jin of rice seedlings?" This year, during the spring ploughing and preparation season, Li Zhuheng, a grower from Xindu District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has been proudly showing off to everyone he meets. How did 48-year-old Li Zhuheng suddenly become a strongman? The villagers were curious. He pointed to a small, square box "with legs" behind him and said, "It's all thanks to this 'helper'."
This inconspicuous small, square box is an intelligent follow-type carry-on robot, commonly used in factories but rarely seen in the fields. Li Zhuheng stacks trays of rice seedlings and farming tools onto it, connects it to an electronic bracelet on his wrist, and with a wave of his hand, the robot, equipped with a four-wheel steering system, begins to follow him automatically. "The field soil is soft and there are gravels, but its 'footing' is excellent," he noted. Guided by sensors and algorithms to overcome obstacles, the "helper" closely follows Li Zhuheng, steadily delivering the seedling trays to the seedbed field.
Li Zhuheng grows 600 mu of rice in the Xindu District Rice-Vegetable Modern Agricultural Park. "The robot has been a great help," said Li, who finds it very handy. A single tray of soil-covered seedlings weighs over ten kilograms, but the carry-on robot can carry a load of 400 kilograms and operate for up to six hours on a single charge. "This year for raising seedlings, five workers plus five robots are sufficient."
While busy debugging machines, preparing seeds and substrate soil, and organizing the seedbed fields recently, Li Zhuheng has been somewhat neglecting the 300 mu of winter wheat and various vegetables he also cultivates. "Not to worry, there are robots for field management too," he said, swiping his phone screen to display clear information on crop condition and pest status for each field plot. In the wheat fields, an intelligent inspection robot moves along the plots: its head is equipped with cameras and searchlights, forming its "eyes"; its chest houses a radar for receiving navigation information; and within its stout "body" lie data analysis and energy storage systems. On four wheels, it conducts automatic, all-weather inspections in the fields.
In terms of keen observation, a while ago when the wheat showed slight yellowing, Li Zhuheng didn't notice, but the robot detected it early and issued a warning. Regarding experience, after the robot captures images of pests, the backend system analyzes the species and generates targeted prevention plans with an accuracy rate exceeding 90%. "It's really starting to rival an 'old hand'," Li Zhuheng said with a smile. "This year I plan to 'take it easy' with farming and leave the task of monitoring seedling growth to it as well."
How did these robots come to Li Zhuheng's fields? Less than two kilometers away, within the same modern agricultural park, Chengdu Xindu Green Control Agricultural Service Co., Ltd. serves as the "seedbed" for these robots. Green Control Agriculture has focused on green pest control technology for years and began transitioning to develop agricultural robots in 2024. "Old Li, would you trust us to inspect your fields?" Last year, Wang Kang, the company's deputy general manager, visited Li with an offer: to provide services free of charge to farmers, as the robots needed real-world application scenarios for research and development upgrades.
"With drones in the sky and agricultural monitoring stations on the ground, what more can these robots do?" Li Zhuheng initially wondered. His question mark was soon turned into an exclamation point: the robots entered the fields, becoming mobile, intelligent monitoring stations that not only collect information with fewer blind spots and higher precision but also enable smarter analysis of farm conditions.
While promising, Li Zhuheng found these new technologies had their "pain points" initially: insufficient battery life, often leaving them stranded during inspections; and less-than-ideal obstacle avoidance and stability, requiring manual assistance if they tipped over. Green Control Agriculture took the feedback seriously, analyzing data, testing improvements, adding automatic charging functions, and developing a tracked version suitable for fieldwork, completing three iterations within eight months.
With the seedling raising work recently arranged, Li Zhuheng planned to visit Green Control Agriculture to place an order and bring a robot home. "Farming is hard work. Take the carry-on robot; one unit can do the work of three people, easing labor shortages, and it can also be used for agricultural product storage and transport. The inspection robot can save me at least one-third of my management effort," Li Zhuheng calculated clearly. Furthermore, since the robots arrived, more fellow villagers and merchants have come to visit his fields. This year, he secured new contracts to raise seedlings for 2,000 mu of rice from surrounding farmers, and the number of members in his own contract farming business is also growing. "Farmers who embrace innovation and progress are more likely to win in the market," Li Zhuheng said with a smile. "When it comes to this 'reputation account,' I've benefited from the robots."
The novelty of robots serving as "helpers" in the fields has spread throughout the local area, and many growers are interested in trying them. However, with an inspection robot costing between 120,000 and 150,000 yuan and a carry-on robot around 100,000 yuan—similar to the price of a small tractor—most are still watching from the sidelines. "The robotics industry is developing rapidly, and relevant incentive policies haven't quite caught up yet. Without subsidies, robots are indeed somewhat expensive for the average grower," Wang Kang admitted.
How can more people afford and access robotic "helpers"? Green Control Agriculture is experimenting with a rental model in Xindu District: leasing various types of robots to growers for 1 yuan per mu. "We are exploring various business models both to sustain the company's development and to promote the adoption of robots," Wang Kang explained confidently. "Based on broader application and feedback, we will use technological upgrades to control costs. The price of robots will certainly decrease gradually in the future."
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