China News Service, Nanning, March 22 (Wang Yizhao and Huang Xinyang) "The lines of my driverless sugarcane planting machine are pre-set to ensure that the linear error does not exceed 5 centimeters. I only need to operate the machine to turn around." Guangxi Agricultural machinery operator Qin Shaohong of Nongken Jinguang Farm Co., Ltd. introduced to reporters on the 21st.
Recently, the spring plowing of sugar cane in Guangxi is in full swing. On that day, at the Guangxi Nongken Jinguang Farm Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Jinguang Farm Company) located at the junction of Xixiangtang District, Nanning City and Fusui County, Chongzuo City, the sugarcane planting machine was carrying out planting operations, turning over, driving, fertilizing, Planting roots, mulching and cultivating soil, all in one go.
Sugarcane planting machine is planting sugarcane. Photographed by Wang Yizhao
Qin Shaohong said that before the introduction of unmanned technology, it was very difficult for him to work in the cabin with high noise and strong vibration for more than ten hours during the busy farming period. He also had to turn his head back and forth repeatedly, looking both in front and behind, and his back was sore at the end of the day. Back pain.
"It used to take two years to train a skilled operator. Plowing and turning soil required manual operation by the operator, but sometimes the road was still as winding as a snake." Tan Shaohong said.
Self-driving tractors plant straight roads. (Drone photo) Photo by Wang Yizhao
Nowadays, newly introduced agricultural machinery has added driverless functions. With the help of Beidou positioning, it can automatically plan routes according to the plots and drive straight paths on the fields. No manual operation is required except for turning around, and only two people need to be trained. It can be operated within days, effectively solving the situation of not being able to keep up with the farming season, labor shortage and high price. "Unmanned driving can create straight roads, solving the problem of winding roads in the past and improving land utilization," said Qin Zhongwei.
Guangxi is China's largest sugar cane planting base and main sugar producing area. Guangxi's sugar cane planting area and sugar output have accounted for about 60% of China's for 19 consecutive seasons. Traditional sugarcane cultivation is very labor-intensive. How to mechanize and automate cultivation is a must-answer question to expand scale, reduce costs and increase efficiency.
A driverless tractor performs sugarcane planting operations. (Drone photo) Photo by Wang Yizhao
Traditional sugarcane cultivation is very labor-intensive, and Guangxi has a lot of rain in spring. If we rely solely on manpower, the farming season will not be guaranteed. "Before mechanization, a group of people gathered around the field every spring plowing. They could not plant even one acre of land after a whole day's work. It was even slower when it rained. It was very frustrating." Qin Zhongwei said.
At present, Qin Zhongwei's agricultural machinery fleet is working at full capacity and can cultivate 500 acres of land every day, effectively alleviating the anxiety of not being able to catch the farming season. "Before mechanization and intelligence, it took 100 people to farm 500 acres of land for a day. Now 10 people can farm 500 acres," said Qin Zhongwei.
The sugarcane harvester of Jinguang Farm Company is harvesting sugarcane. (Drone photo) Photo by Wang Yizhao
The tractor is plowing the land. Photographed by Wang Yizhao
In recent years, Jinguang Farm Company has been at the forefront of exploring mechanized planting, and has the ability to mechanize and digitalize the entire process of "cultivation, planting, management, and harvesting" of sugarcane production.
"Currently, there are fewer and fewer human resources for sugarcane planting. Mechanized planting solves our manpower problem. In sugarcane planting in 2023, mechanized intelligent equipment will save our labor costs by more than 20% and increase sugarcane output by more than 16%. " Wu Rongdong, manager of the agricultural affairs department of Guangxi Nongken Jinguang Farm Co., Ltd. introduced.
Jinguang Farm Company currently has the largest full-process mechanization demonstration base for sugarcane production in Guangxi, with an annual output of more than 460,000 tons of raw material sugarcane. "Our farm company plans to build an intelligent, unmanned, high-standard sugarcane demonstration farm in the future, with an area of more than 80,000 acres," Wu Rongdong said. (over)