What will the farms of the future look like? In the fields, drones sweep across the sky in steady formation. Inside greenhouses, inspection robots glide quietly along the rows, their sensors scanning leaves and stems for signs of disease. Beneath the soil, digital probes monitor moisture and nutrients, transmitting data in real time.
In a nearby control room, giant screens flicker with numbers — temperature, humidity, soil moisture and sunlight. Algorithms analyze the data and instantly send commands through 5G networks, activating irrigation systems and fertilization equipment across the farm.
What once sounded like science fiction is already unfolding in Tianjiaying village in Nanzhang county, Xiangyang city, central China's Hubei Province. At the village's smart agriculture industrial park, 82 greenhouses operate under a digital management system that connects climate control, irrigation and monitoring technologies into one integrated platform. Farmers can adjust ventilation, irrigation and fertilization through their mobile phones while automated machinery handles much of the field work.
"With this system, one person can remotely manage dozens of greenhouses, significantly reducing labor costs while increasing yields by more than 50 percent," said Su Wei, director of the Innovation Center at the Tianjiaying Base of Jinmeikelin (Hubei) Technology Co., Ltd.
Read more at People's Daily Online
