Technology transforms spring farming in C China's Hubei

A drone precisely atomizes water, fertilizer, and pesticide solutions into a fine mist for efficient application on a field in central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

Technology is bringing new momentum to the peak spring farming season in central China's Hubei Province, where farm management is now in full swing.

Photo shows virus-free sweet potato seedlings in a plant tissue culture lab at a "science and technology backyard" in Gong'an county, Huanggang city, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Jun)

In a plant tissue culture lab at a "science and technology backyard" in Hong'an county, Huanggang city, central China's Hubei Province, virus-free sweet potato seedlings are grown in neatly arranged pots under constant temperature conditions. Humidity, temperature, and nutrients are all precisely regulated by an automated control system.

The Science and Technology Backyard program aims to study and solve practical problems in the development of agriculture and rural areas and train high-level agricultural talent.

Yao Feng checks on the growth of virus-free sweet potato seedlings in a greenhouse in Gong'an county, Huanggang city, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Guo Tingting)

Virus-free seedling technology is like giving sweet potato seedlings a full health check-up and treatment, said Yao Feng, head of a planting and breeding cooperative.

The breakthrough has helped overcome long-standing challenges in sweet potato farming, lifting yields from less than 1,000 kilograms per mu (about 0.067 hectares) to over 2,500 kilograms.

Today, the "science and technology backyard" produces up to 100 million high-quality virus-free seedlings a year, and promotes the cultivation of the seedlings on a total of 25,000 mu of farmland, helping farming households increase income by more than 1,000 yuan (about $146.32) per mu on average.

Photo shows sweet potato seedlings in a greenhouse under constant temperature conditions in Gong'an county, Huanggang city, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Guo Tingting)

In Xishui county of Huanggang, the roar of machinery marks the start of planting season for the county's 360,000 mu of early-season and ratoon rice.

In more than 3,600 mu of rice fields operated by Jiafeng Agricultural Co., Ltd., spring ploughing is in full swing. In the sky, an agricultural drone evenly sprays soil conditioners to improve the land. On the ground, a rotary tiller shuttles back and forth.

"Each drone can cover over 300 mu a day, which makes a huge difference in efficiency," said drone operator Yang Li.

A drone sprays soil conditioners to improve the land in Xishui county, Huanggang city, central China's Hubei Province. (People's Daily Online/Guo Tingting)

Hundreds of kilometers away in Jiuzhen town, Tianmen city, unmanned spring farming is in full swing in rice fields managed by a rice planting cooperative. A worker taps a tablet and an electric smart tractor immediately starts up, following a preset route to carry out deep ploughing. A drone takes off to precisely atomize and evenly spray water, fertilizer, and pesticide solutions across the fields. An unmanned high-speed rice transplanter moves smoothly through the fields, planting seedlings with precision and consistency.

Unmanned high-speed rice transplanters plant seedlings with precision and consistency in a field in Jiuzhen town, Tianmen city, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/You Weiping)

"An unmanned high-speed transplanter can work 8 to 12 mu per hour, significantly boosting efficiency," said cooperative head You Weiping, noting that all six transplanters purchased last year have been equipped with the Beidou navigation satellite system.

Agricultural machines plough and prepare the fields ahead of machine-based seeding in a field in Jiuzhen town, Tianmen city, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Wang Shuai)