China's intelligent agricultural machinery is undergoing a new round of self-revolution

Driven by the policies promoting food security and the strategy of becoming an agricultural powerhouse, China's agricultural machinery industry is entering a new phase of innovation. In particular, companies such as China United Network Communications Group, Weichai-Levo, Bochuang Linkage, YTO Group, World Group, Dimai Group, and Chaoxing Intelligence are actively investing in intelligent agricultural machinery. They are promoting the modernization and intelligence of Chinese agriculture through technological innovation, product innovation, application innovation, and business model innovation.

In terms of the overall layout of intelligent agricultural machinery enterprises, there are three paths accelerating the commercialization of intelligent agricultural machinery:

1) Establishing integrated smart agriculture solutions

Digitalization and intelligent technology are the core of future agriculture. By using digitalization and intelligent technology as a link, it connects biotechnology, new materials technology, intelligent manufacturing, and other technologies to create an innovative ecosystem that covers the entire cycle, all aspects, and the entire industry chain. Looking ahead, the entire agricultural process will be digitized and intelligent, combining biotechnology and information technology to digitize breeding, research and development of agricultural inputs such as crop protection, animal protection, and fertilizers. The combination of the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and robotics will bring digitalization and high mechanization to the production process, greatly improving agricultural production efficiency and output per unit area by replacing human labor with machines.

In order to overcome the limitations of intelligent agricultural machinery products, some companies are actively exploring the construction of integrated smart agriculture solutions to help farmers achieve intelligent, modern, and technological production in all aspects of agriculture, including cultivation, planting, management, and harvesting. In terms of intelligent equipment, intelligent agricultural machinery companies are also making efforts in areas such as intelligent sowing, transplanting, irrigation, fertilization, spraying, and the commercialization of intelligent agricultural machinery. This has achieved upgrades and monetization from technology to products and then to the industry.

2) Empowering the development of traditional agricultural machinery industry

With the widespread application of technologies such as the Internet of Things, Beidou Navigation, autonomous driving, robotics manufacturing, drones, and artificial intelligence in the agricultural field, there is a growing enthusiasm for innovation in agricultural machinery equipment. Empowering future agriculture with intelligent devices has become a major trend in agricultural development.

Traditional agricultural machinery companies have introduced AI technology to integrate intelligent sensors, the Internet of Things, and big data into traditional machinery, achieving the intelligence and automation of traditional agricultural machinery.

So far, the combination of high-tech technology, applications, platforms, and traditional agricultural machinery has further ignited the intelligence and modernization of traditional agricultural machinery, enabling the traditional agricultural machinery industry to quickly embrace the era of intelligence.

3) Layout along the "Belt and Road" or going global

According to McKinsey's basic estimates, countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" (including EU member states) cover nearly 5 billion people, with a total economy of approximately 39 trillion US dollars, accounting for 70% and 52% of the global total, respectively.

In addition, agricultural productivity and production levels in developing countries along the "Belt and Road" are relatively low, and there is an urgent need for small and medium-sized agricultural machinery equipment. Developed countries are unwilling to manufacture such equipment, and countries along the "Belt and Road" do not have the ability to manufacture them. In this situation, China's agricultural machinery industry contains tremendous development opportunities.

In addition to layout along the "Belt and Road," the trend of intelligent agricultural machinery going global has become mainstream in the industry.

Take Bochuang Linkage as an example.

In order to solve industry problems, Bochuang Linkage has established an integrated smart agriculture solution that covers the entire chain of agricultural cultivation, harvesting, management, and planting. It currently has millions of intelligent terminals and has accumulated an operating area of over 1.6 billion mu. For example, in terms of intelligent agricultural machinery, Bochuang Linkage relies on technologies such as Beidou, 5G networks, and big data to upgrade agricultural machinery to intelligent and digital levels. It has launched products including intelligent tractors, intelligent transplanters, agricultural machinery intelligent control systems, autonomous driving, and digital intelligent terminals, creating a precision agricultural production model led by smart agricultural machinery.

In terms of smart farms, Bochuang Linkage has partnered with Shangzhuang Town in Haidian District to create a 405-acre smart demonstration farm. Among them, Bochuang Linkage has built five major smart core projects, including an unmanned operation agricultural machinery system that covers the entire process of rice cultivation, monitoring systems for disaster situations, soil moisture, seedling conditions, and pest and disease conditions, as well as supporting green and efficient precision cultivation digital models. It has also established an unmanned farm digital comprehensive management cloud platform, which can achieve efficient and intelligent management and operation of the farm. The Jingxi Rice Quality Traceability System has been implemented to regulate the quality and safety of Jingxi Rice in the region and give it a new agricultural product brand identity that is scientific, green, safe, and ecological. The construction of an unmanned farm comprehensive operation command center, field digital agriculture display, and supporting industry-university-research services will achieve full coverage of management, control, observation, learning, and promotion of the planned unmanned farm, highlighting technological leadership, innovation in models, and demonstrable promotion. This will help the commercialization of intelligent agricultural machinery.

In terms of low-carbon empowerment, Bochuang Linkage will also launch Bochuang Inside Intelligent Tractor 2.0 by 2023. Different from traditional assisted driving tractors, it can achieve automatic turning and intelligent operation control of agricultural tools, making a leap from assisted driving to autonomous driving and from manual operation to intelligent operation. The vehicle has innovative digital intelligent functions such as intelligent U-turn, automatic deep cultivation maintenance, cruise control, one-key lifting and flipping, precise acre calculation, rear-view image monitoring, and maintenance information reminders. It not only reduces labor and costs but also improves operational consistency. Operators have more flexible time, increasing operational efficiency by 10-15% and increasing land utilization by 1%. It also reduces fuel, seed, and fertilizer waste by 5%, effectively assisting the transformation of agriculture into a green and low-carbon model.

In addition to Bochuang Linkage's active innovation, China United Network Communications Group, Weichai-Levo, and Dimai Group are also continuously deepening their efforts in the smart farm and intelligent agricultural machinery fields, promoting the transformation and upgrading of Chinese agriculture.

Nowadays, the era of intelligent agriculture has arrived, and intelligent agricultural machinery will play an increasingly important role in agricultural production. (By Nanfeng)