An unmanned automatic agricultural machine lays irrigation hoses in a field in Tai'an. [Photo/Dazhong News]

Tai'an in Shandong province has been bolstering efforts to boost high-quality development in agriculture by adopting innovative technologies such as internet of things technology and smart equipment.

In a digital agricultural industrial park in Feicheng, county-level city in Tai'an, a large screen displays data such as temperature, humidity, illumination, and soil acidity or alkalinity. A 20,000-square-meter greenhouse is managed by one person, remote controlling the activation of equipment like sunshades and integrated water and fertilizer systems.

"By utilizing soil digital monitoring and dynamically adjusting water and fertilizer ratios, we can fine-tune the taste of tomatoes," said Zu Shaohua, general manager of the industrial park. The digitized planting techniques not only ensure controllable product quality, but also lead to increased profitability.

An electricity service application platform developed by the State Grid Ningyang County Power Supply Company has helped make digital agriculture a reality in Ningyang county.

By combining factors like crop types, growth cycles, soil types, and moisture content with research algorithms that integrate drought levels with electricity data, this innovative fusion of energy and digital technology enables "cloud irrigation" and online management of agricultural irrigation, assisting in cost reduction and increasing incomes in agricultural irrigation.

In the pilot farmland, covering an area of about 66.67 hectares in Echang village, Ningyang county, it is estimated that during the 2024 spring irrigation period, water savings will exceed 34,000 cubic meters, reducing electricity consumption by over 4,700 kWh.

Smart agriculture is becoming popular in Tai'an, with smart agricultural machinery such as field-patrolling robots, weeding robots, and unmanned transport vehicles making appearances at a recent city-wide spring agricultural mechanization production promotion conference.

To date, Tai'an has established 65 provincial-level smart agricultural application bases. From traditional farming to "smart" farming, agriculture in Tai'an is advancing confidently towards mechanization, intelligence, and technological innovation.