In 2022, the No.1 Document of the Central Committee pointed out that we should vigorously promote the construction of digital villages, promote the development of smart agriculture, and promote the integrated application of information technology and agricultural machinery and agronomy. The "14th Five-Year Plan" and the outline of the long-term goal in 2035 proposed to build smart agriculture and accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. An agricultural intelligent revolution with intelligent agriculture as its manifestation has arrived. In this issue, relevant experts are invited to discuss the issue of smart agriculture.
Moderator: Xu Xiangmei, director and researcher of the Theory Department of Economic Daily.
Deep integration of information technology and modern agriculture
Moderator: What are the distinctive features of smart agriculture that are different from traditional agriculture? Why should we attach great importance to smart agriculture?
Li Daoliang (Director, National Digital Fisheries Innovation Center, China Agricultural University): Smart agriculture is the product of deep integration of new generation information technologies such as Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, spatial information technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence, modern agricultural planting and breeding technology, and the industrial chain of agricultural products processing, circulation, trading and consumption. It is the "ecological integration" and "gene recombination" of modern information technology and the whole industrial chain of agricultural production, operation, management and service.
The main features of smart agriculture are as follows.
First, agricultural production factors are digitized, networked and online. Using advanced sensing, remote sensing and machine vision, the information of agricultural planting and breeding environment, the growth information of planting or breeding objects, and the working condition information of production machinery and equipment can be digitally marked and obtained. Using Internet, 5G, narrowband Internet of Things, satellite communication and other network communication technologies, remote digital information scheduling is realized.
Second, the regulation and decision-making of agricultural production process is cloud-based and intelligent. Based on the massive data of the production process, we make full use of big data and artificial intelligence technology, and process the data with the help of agricultural cloud computing platform to generate the optimal growth regulation model of agricultural animals and plants, so as to realize the intelligent regulation of the whole production process.
The third is the synergy of the whole link, whole process and whole chain of agriculture. Through the agricultural cloud computing platform, the distributed agricultural production system, logistics system, trading system and consumption system are connected into an organic whole, so that agricultural production, operation, management and consumption can be optimized in coordination with the main work.
The fourth is the credit and safety of agricultural management. All the data of agricultural production, circulation, transaction and consumption are uploaded and stored in the blockchain shared distributed database through the blockchain decentralization technology, forming an unbreakable account book that can be consulted by consumers and buyers, making agricultural management credit and safe.
The significance and function of developing intelligent agriculture are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
Promote the conservation and efficient utilization of resources and the green development of agricultural science. Through the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, robots, intelligent equipment and other technologies and breeding techniques, planting and breeding operations can get rid of the natural environment and human dependence, and build an agricultural production automation system that integrates environmental physiological monitoring, crop model analysis and precise adjustment, so as to improve labor production efficiency, land output rate and resource utilization rate. Through digital measurement and control, we can meet the needs of crop growth, ensure resource conservation and avoid environmental pollution, and realize the green development of agriculture. At present, agricultural developed countries have realized that one person cultivates 5,000 mu of land, one person produces 500 tons of vegetables annually, one person grows 1 million potted flowers, one person raises 200,000 chickens and produces 180,000 eggs a day, and one person raises 10,000 pigs, 200 cows and 100 tons of fish, completely changing the problems faced by traditional agriculture with extensive management, weak competitiveness and low resource utilization rate.
Promote agricultural standardized production and ensure "green and safety on the tip of the tongue". Real-time dynamic monitoring of soil, atmospheric environment and water environment through digital, networked and intelligent equipment to make it meet the environmental standards of agricultural production; All aspects of production can also be produced by intelligent equipment according to certain technical and economic standards and specifications; Through digital and intelligent equipment, the quality of agricultural products is accurately detected in real time to ensure that the final agricultural products meet the corresponding quality standards. With the help of Internet, QR code, radio frequency tag, blockchain and other technologies, we will establish an information platform for agricultural product quality and food safety that can be traced and shared in the whole process, improve the supervision system of agricultural product quality and safety process from farmland to table, and ensure the people’s "green and safety on the tip of their tongue".
Promote the integration and branding of agricultural management. The application of information technology has broken the space-time geographical limitation of agricultural market, and the data of agricultural materials procurement and agricultural products circulation will be monitored and transmitted in real time, effectively solving the problem of information asymmetry. Use the e-commerce platform to expand the sales channels of agricultural products, build an integrated agricultural product management system through self-operated bases, self-built websites and independent distribution, and promote the market marketing and brand operation of agricultural products.
Promote the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries. The digitalization, networking and platformization of agriculture will guide the development and alliance of new agricultural business entities such as large professional households, family farms, farmers’ professional cooperatives and excellent enterprises, promote the close connection of related industries such as agricultural product production, circulation, processing, storage and transportation, sales and service, realize the effective allocation of agricultural factor resources, and make the industry and factor agglomeration change from quantitative collection to qualitative change, so as to rebuild the whole agricultural industrial chain and realize the cross-infiltration and integrated development of agriculture and secondary and tertiary industries.
Intelligent management aims at system optimization.
Moderator: What is the development status of smart agriculture in developed countries? What experience does it have in the research, development and application of new smart agriculture technologies that are worth learning from in China?
He Yong (Director, Digital Agriculture and Rural Research Center, Zhejiang University): The United States is a typical modern agricultural country in the world, with about 3.5 million people directly engaged in agricultural production, which not only feeds 300 million Americans, but also becomes the largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. Full mechanization and rapid development of digital technology have laid a solid foundation for the development of its smart agriculture. At present, the United States has formed a sophisticated and large-scale intelligent agricultural production system. 69.6% of farms use sensors to collect data, and agricultural robots are used in agricultural production such as sowing, spraying and harvesting.
As the world’s largest agricultural drone spraying country, Japan mainly uses the agricultural Internet of Things as the information source, applies a large number of agricultural robots, and constantly pursues labor-saving and refined agricultural production to solve the problem of agricultural labor shortage.
The characteristics of smart agriculture in Europe, America, Japan and other developed countries are based on the development trend of modern agriculture, combined with the actual agricultural production in their own countries to carry out theoretical and practical research on smart agriculture. With the support of modern information technology, we should give full play to the role of smart agricultural equipment, and apply technologies such as Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data and 5G to consider crops, soil, environment, meteorology, equipment and personnel as a whole system, so as to realize intelligent management with the goal of overall optimization of the system.
Developed countries have the following experiences in the research, development and application of smart agricultural technology, which are worth learning from in China.
First, starting with improving productivity and solving the bottleneck problem of agricultural production. The Netherlands, Israel and other countries are seriously short of fresh water resources, so they vigorously develop facility agriculture, implement soilless culture and fine spray and drip irrigation systems. Japan’s agricultural labor force is aging and seriously inadequate, and it vigorously develops agricultural drones and agricultural robots, greatly improving operational efficiency. South China is also facing the shortage of labor force and the availability of agricultural inorganic materials in hilly and mountainous areas. We should develop multifunctional small-scale operation equipment, realize the substitution of machines and solve the problem of mechanized operation in hilly and mountainous areas. The main grain producing areas should implement full mechanization to improve labor productivity. Economically developed areas can study the establishment of unmanned or few farms, orchards, pastures, fishing grounds, etc., to improve the level of agricultural modernization.
Second, the implementation of standardized planning and operation is the basis and condition for the development of smart agriculture. Standardized planning and refined management of farmland, orchards and pastures in developed countries have created conditions for large-scale and efficient use of intelligent agricultural equipment, greatly improving operation efficiency, yield and quality. China’s farmland, orchards and pastures need to promote standardized planning as soon as possible, formulate standardized operation specifications, and develop high-efficiency supporting equipment to create conditions for large-scale mechanized operations.
Third, make full use of modern science and technology to plug in the wings of science and technology for agriculture. A large number of foreign countries use aerospace technology and meteorological data to achieve rapid and accurate acquisition and intelligent management of farmland information. With the development of Internet of Things, big data and 5G technology, especially the application of high-resolution satellite and Beidou positioning system, it is expected to realize real-time dynamic acquisition of crop and animal and plant growth information, and dynamically adjust and control temperature, humidity and illumination according to crop growth requirements, and accurately spray fertilizers and fertilizers.
The development of smart agriculture in various places has achieved practical results.
Moderator: What is the development status of smart agriculture in China? What are the successful experiences and innovative explorations of smart agriculture development in various places?
Kang Chunpeng (Associate Research Fellow, Information Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs): China’s agricultural and rural informatization development level is still in the primary stage, but the agricultural industry is accelerating its transformation towards digitalization, networking and intelligence, and the consumer Internet continues to extend and expand to the industrial Internet. According to the monitoring of the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in 2020, the informatization level of agricultural production in China will be 22.5%, including 18.5% for field cultivation, 23.5% for facility cultivation, 30.2% for livestock breeding and 15.7% for aquaculture. In recent years, China’s smart agriculture has gradually achieved results, and the level of intelligence and unmanned has gradually improved, showing the following highlights.
First, new products and technologies are booming. Modern information technology is widely used in all aspects and fields of agricultural production, and new products, technologies and models emerge one after another. The digital transformation of agriculture has been accelerated, and the traditional agriculture has been transformed into intelligence. Intelligent identification systems for crop moisture, seedling condition, diseases and pests and disaster monitoring in the field and intelligent robots for farming and harvesting have been continuously developed. In particular, products such as automatic harvesting equipment, agricultural sensors, camera monitoring, pest monitoring and early warning have been widely used.
Second, no one or few farms broke ground. The rural network infrastructure has been continuously consolidated, especially the maturity and popularization of big data, 5G and artificial intelligence technologies, which provide basic conditions for the development of unmanned or few farms. In Changsha, Hunan, Wuhu, Anhui, Sanjiang, Huzhou, Zhejiang, Chongzhou, Sichuan, Foshan, Guangdong and other places, no one or few farms broke ground, and all farm production operations were completed through remote control of facilities, equipment, machinery and so on, automatic control of the whole process or autonomous control of robots.
Third, the construction of big data has achieved initial results. From the national level, the sharing of government data resources and the integration of information systems have achieved phased results, the national integrated government service platform has been basically completed, and the pattern of co-construction and sharing of government data resources has basically taken shape. From the perspective of local practice, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangxi and other places have actively promoted the construction of big data in agriculture and rural areas, and successively built big data platforms. Zhejiang is vigorously promoting the digital reform of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" throughout the province.
Fourth, market players have become a new force. Market players are becoming an important force in building smart agriculture. Large enterprises have entered the field of smart agriculture. The three major telecom operators and Internet companies such as Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent have laid out smart agriculture. Sinochem, Zoomlion and Country Garden have begun to enter smart farms. In addition, agricultural enterprises also take the initiative in the digital transformation. Traditional agricultural enterprises such as COFCO, Beidahuang, New Hope and Haisheng Fruit Industry vigorously develop smart planting, smart animal husbandry, smart fisheries and smart processing.
Since 2019, Zhejiang has taken the lead in building a "digital agricultural factory" in the country, and carried out systematic integration and comprehensive application of digital technology and equipment around the production environment, production process, quality and safety, circulation marketing and technical services. After several years of practice, in 2021, guidelines for the construction of digital agricultural factories, digital fishing grounds and pig farms were successively issued. Shui Mu Vegetable Factory in Deqing County integrates advanced technology into production management, product marketing, quality control, ecological protection and other links, achieving an annual output of 2 million kilograms of tomatoes, with an efficiency of 30 times that of traditional fields; Tongxiang Huateng Animal Husbandry uses technologies such as Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, bio-ear tags and blockchain to promote the digital transformation of animal husbandry and create a safer, more productive and fully automatic breeding environment, saving 80% labor and 60% water.
Zibo, Shandong Province took the lead in building a digital agricultural rural central city in China, focusing on five key tasks: agricultural production and processing, agricultural product warehousing and logistics, agricultural product marketing, integrated development of agriculture and tourism, and consolidating grassroots foundation, and building a smart sharing "cloud brain", an efficient and high-quality "cloud industry", a regional center "cloud market", a convenient and inclusive "cloud finance" and a new service "cloud village". In 2021, 4.54 billion yuan of major special funds for rural revitalization will be set up, and 40 key digital agriculture and rural projects will have an investment of 5.186 billion yuan, and 30 typical application scenarios and 10 smart towns will be built.
From a practical point of view, the development of smart agriculture in many places has achieved remarkable results and formed experience for reference. First of all, give full play to the role of market players, establish an effective market in full accordance with the laws of economic operation and information development, and stimulate the vitality of various market players. Secondly, we should play the role of a promising government, guide market expectations with policies, clarify the investment direction with planning, incite social capital with finance, and regulate market behavior with the rule of law. Finally, do a good job in pilot demonstration. Smart agriculture is an advanced form of agricultural informatization, which involves relatively advanced technology and has great market risks. On the basis of fully respecting farmers’ dominant position, we should show them, lead them to work and earn money, and inspire them to use modern information technology to develop production and improve their lives.
