Ningbo, October 31 (Xinhua) -- Cixi, Zhejiang Province: "Technological Innovation+Digital Application" Helps Agricultural Modernization

Xinhua News Agency reporters Fang Yibo and Lin Guangyao

In October, the reporter came to Cixi City, Zhejiang Province. As one of the first national level agricultural modernization demonstration zones, modern agriculture is taking root and growing here.

Entering the grading workshop of Cixi Zhengda Egg Industry Co., Ltd. located in the Modern Agricultural Development Zone of Cixi City, the robotic arm is neatly stacking the packaged eggs.

On October 30th, in the grading workshop of Cixi Zhengda Egg Industry Co., Ltd., a robotic arm was neatly stacking packaged eggs. Photo by Lin Guangyao, Xinhua News Agency reporter

At the digital egg laying chicken farm of Cixi Zhengda Egg Industry, a breeding engineer can manage 86000 laying hens through a computer, and a workshop worker sorts an average of 36000 eggs per day.

Jiang Xiaoxiao, the breeding manager of Cixi Zhengda Egg Industry, introduced: "The feeding, drinking water, lighting, environmental control, egg transportation, and chicken manure cleaning processes have achieved automation control, and the enterprise's automation level has reached more than 70%, and is moving towards a higher degree of automation

Technology brings higher added value to the development of modern agriculture. In the modern greenhouse of Cixi Dazhi Angel Ecological Farm located in Kandun Street, Cixi City, with a single area of 7000 square meters, ornamental plants such as American red maple and fruit seedlings such as blueberries, watermelons, and grapes are growing vigorously. These seedlings were cultivated using rapid propagation techniques through tissue culture.

Farm manager Meng Fanwei introduced that by using tissue culture, a batch of seedlings can be cultivated in 2 months. The seedlings cultivated by the organization have well-developed root systems, with a growth rate twice that of traditional methods such as cutting and grafting, and controllable traits that can be mass-produced.

On October 30th, at Cixi Dazhi Angel Ecological Farm, staff used the IoT remote intelligent control system to view various indicator values inside the greenhouse and control the switches of related equipment inside the greenhouse. Photo by Lin Guangyao, Xinhua News Agency reporter

Recently, the 2 million Yuling flower seedlings we have cultivated for our Shandong clients have been completed and are being delivered one after another, "said Meng Fanwei.

At the Kandun Yulan Fruit and Vegetable Farm, a six or seven meter high glass greenhouse is set up by the village road, which is particularly eye-catching. The greenhouse is equipped with two layers of automatic rolling sunshade film, and two rows of fans are installed on the north and south sides to regulate the temperature and humidity of the greenhouse. The automatic sprinkler truck is ready to go. Hu Jingjin, a farmer born in the 1980s, has installed a "smart brain" on these devices, allowing for remote control by simply tapping on his phone while sitting at home.

On October 30th, at the Kandun Yulan Fruit and Vegetable Farm, a drip irrigation pipeline integrating water and fertilizer "crawled" over rows of strawberry seedlings. Photo by Lin Guangyao, Xinhua News Agency reporter

Recently, the dragon fruit on the farm has just been harvested, and Hu Jingjin has been busy with a new order worth over 200000 yuan. The customer has ordered 20000 pots of white strawberry seedlings, which will start planting at the end of September and are expected to be delivered by the end of November, "said Hu Jingjin. The 30 acres of strawberries cultivated on his own farm will also be available for sale in December.

Taking digital reform as the driving force, Cixi is striving to build a new benchmark for agricultural modernization by vigorously promoting science and technology to strengthen agriculture. A group of cultured new farmers are carrying out new forms of farming. The relevant person in charge of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Cixi City introduced that the city has established one national digital agriculture innovation application base, built seven provincial-level digital agriculture factories, and established 40 digital transformation bases.

In the first three quarters of 2023, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery in Cixi city reached 7.931 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%; The added value of primary industry was 4.386 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and the level of agricultural modernization development ranks among the top in the country.

We insist on competitiveness in project tackling, high efficiency in integrated development, and new impetus in scientific and technological equipment, and have embarked on a distinctive path of modern agricultural development. The overall level of digital agriculture and rural development in Cixi has remained above 80%, exceeding the provincial average by more than 10 percentage points, "said Lin Jian, member of the Standing Committee of the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Cixi Municipal Party Committee.