China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (China Mobile) has been playing a main part in promoting high-tech and internet measures in farming nationwide since early spring, launching more than 1,300 5G-based smart agricultural demonstration projects.
5G and BeiDou technologies power unmanned farming
An unmanned farm machine installed with China Mobile's 5G-BeiDou highly-accurate positioning system operates on a farmland. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
So far, China Mobile has built more than 4,400 BeiDou ground-based augmentation stations nationwide.
By promoting the integration and innovation of 5G technology and BeiDou satellite navigation technology, the company realized a standardized high-precision positioning service that enables high-speed interconnection of various kinds of agricultural machinery such as tractors, planters, harvesters, and crop protection machines and achieves automatic driving navigation, precise agricultural operations, and refined management of agricultural machinery.
Thanks to the service, the precision and efficiency of farm machinery has been improved.
5G and OneNet technologies increase grain output
Lankao County in Kaifeng, Central China's Henan Province, is one of the first rural vitalization demonstration counties and a pilot for promoting high-standard farmland construction in China. Digital measures have been taken there to benefit spring farming.
China Mobile developed a 5G-based integrated high-standard farmland management platform, intending to connect all kinds of farm machinery with the platform through 5G internet to realize all data being obtained on the platform relying on the OneNet capacity.
Since the high-standard 5G farmland was built, the grain output in Lankao has increased by approximately 10 percent, pesticide usage reduced by around 20 percent, and fertilizer usage decreased by about 10 percent. The annual income of the farmers has increased by approximately 650 yuan ($89.89) per mu on average.
5G, AI and IoT help harvest high-quality tea
In Longjing Village of West Lake District, Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, China Mobile applied technologies of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to the tea gardens.
Farmers can collect real-time data on the growth process of tea leaves based on 5G and IoT technologies and various indicators such as the shape and color of the tea leaves can be analyzed with the help of AI.
When finding the tea leaves have met harvest conditions, farmers can promptly sell them to other regions online.
An inside view of a typical 5G-based smart tea garden built by China Mobile in Hangzhou and Rizhao of the East China provinces of Zhejiang and Shandong [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
With a total tea planting area of over 80,000 mu, Jufeng Town in East China's Shandong Province is the main production area for Rizhao green tea.
China Mobile, joining hands with the Agricultural High-Tech Service Center of Lanshan District, launched a Rizhao green tea industrial data platform, enabling real-time monitoring of tea garden humidity, temperature, soil moisture, and pest conditions.
In addition, consumers can also see the entire process of tea products from growth, harvesting and processing to distribution.
5G and IoT contribute to fishery culture
China Mobile has also played a role in increasing output of the fishery industry.
In Yantai, Shandong, the company made a plan to deploy a 700MHz 5G network for China's first large-scale smart marine ecological ranch integral platform, with coverage exceeding 100 kilometers.
The company set up a marine ecological environment monitoring system taking advantage of IoT and 5G technologies and installed a large number of sensors underwater to realize real-time monitoring of seawater temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, which is expected to contribute to scientific aquaculture, reduce aquaculture risks, improve aquaculture efficiency, and achieve the transformation and upgrading of the marine fishery industry.
A view of China's first large-scale smart marine ecological ranch in Yantai, Shandong [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
In Yangjiang, South China's Guangdong Province, China Mobile worked together with the local agriculture and rural affairs bureau to build a comprehensive management platform for marine ranches.
The platform is expected to provide an integrated view of the ranches and marine areas, and present real scenes and remote sensing data. It can also offer complete data reports that consider standardized data management requirements that can be used as references for decision-making.
(Executive editor: Zhu Zeya)
