Source: Xinhuanet
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| Wheat harvesting using latest AI technology |
Amidst the noise of a combine harvester, Xie Guobing, an experienced operator in Henan, China’s key agricultural province, casually used his cellphone to start the machine, surrounded by golden wheat fields.
Two hours later, as he stood by the freshly harvested wheat, the 55-year-old saw a "finish" button appear on his cellphone app, showing the exact area harvested.
Xie and many others in Henan are embracing digital and intelligent agriculture, which promises to significantly advance the field following mechanization.
The app Xie used was created by the Henan provincial agricultural machinery center and the National Institute of Agro-machinery Innovation and Creation. It is the mobile version of Henan’s agricultural machinery cloud platform.
"We typically use this feature for large grain producers," Xie told Xinhua while demonstrating the app. "It’s precise and removes the need for manual measurement." He added, "It has many functions, including finding and contacting nearby harvesters."
The desktop version of this platform offers real-time tracking of harvesters, repair points, service centers, and grain dryers across the province.
Zhao Huawei, head of Henan’s agricultural machinery department, explained that the platform, developed in 2022, uses a smart terminal with the BeiDou positioning system on agricultural machinery. After a two-year pilot in cities like Luohe and Xinyang, it’s now being implemented province-wide.
Zhao emphasized its importance for emergency responses in agriculture. For example, if rain is forecasted, harvesters can be quickly dispatched to speed up harvesting, and grain dryers can be prepared. The platform also provides information, measurement, maintenance services, and connects farmers with drivers, monitoring the harvested areas.
Henan, China’s largest wheat-producing province, contributes a quarter of the national output, covering over 85 million mu (about 5.67 million hectares). The mechanized harvest typically takes about 13 days, and this year, around 200,000 combine harvesters are involved.
Efficiently completing such a massive harvest, especially with weather challenges like rain, requires not only optimal use of harvesters but also effective machinery maintenance, facilitated by digital and intelligent solutions.
At the Weichai Lovol intelligent agriculture service department in Dengzhou, screens show real-time data on operating combine harvesters, including model, location, and factory details, along with parts usage and stock levels, with alerts for low inventory.
Dai Jiwei, a harvester driver from Shandong Province, experienced an issue in Dengzhou when a circlip on his harvester went missing. Thanks to intelligent agriculture advancements, the problem was resolved within an hour. A maintenance engineer arrived within 30 minutes with the necessary parts, and Dai’s harvester was fixed in 20 minutes.
"Recent combine harvesters have positioning systems," said Zhang Linhao, head of the service department. "This helps local authorities allocate machinery and provides rapid maintenance."
Using satellite remote sensing, the Internet of Things, and big data, agricultural authorities can accurately predict the optimal wheat harvest period and create a big data model of wheat yield per mu, achieving a 93 percent prediction accuracy.
"I’ve used six harvesters over the years, and each new generation is better, from 65 to 220 horsepower, and harvesting from 80 to 150 mu a day. Now, with the smart terminal, many tasks are managed through my cellphone. It’s very convenient," said Xie, in his 21st year of harvesting.
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