Gone are the days when agriculture depends solely on the hard work of livestock and humans. The revolution is unfolding in rural Shanghai, where agricultural robots are taking over tasks that were once the epitome of manual labor. At the center of this transformation is Diantian Farm, a place where technology and tradition merge.
These robots can handle many agricultural tasks, from planting to harvesting
Engineers, not cattle, are the new workforce here, where more than 70 professionals, including Li Wei, operate these technological marvels in the rice paddies. These robots, more than 60 types of which have been developed through rigorous research over seven years, are redefining what it means to work the land. From planting to harvesting, these machines do it all, moving over the terrain with their crawler legs and making decisions with their advanced artificial intelligence.
The ease of control of these robots is impressive. Farmers using only their smartphones can wake up these mechanical assistants to start their day. Wang Jinyue, who heads the Diantian Cooperative, has a personal connection to this innovation, as he has experienced firsthand the grueling reality of farm work. Today, robots line the fields, working efficiently and without the need for rest, embodying advances in technology such as 5G, image recognition, and big data.
These robots are not just workers, they are smart workers. The weeding robots, for example, can distinguish between cultivated and unwanted plants, precisely targeting weeds, all thanks to a system that runs on China’s proprietary BeiDou navigation satellite system. This high-tech approach is not limited to Diantian Farm. Across China, in places like Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, intelligent equipment is making growing vegetables not only more efficient but also less labor-intensive.
