Unmanned rice transplanters in the sprawling paddy fields on the farm in Northeast China's breadbasket province of Heilongjiang on May 7, 2023. [Photo/Hongwei Farm Co Ltd]

HARBIN — New technologies — including drones that can spray crops with fertilizer and pesticides and rice transplanting machines equipped with BeiDou Navigation Satellite Systems — are turning Hongwei Farm in Northeast China into a pioneer of intelligent agriculture.

Around 30 transplanters have been deployed to plant rice seedlings in the sprawling paddy fields on the farm in the breadbasket province of Heilongjiang, navigating obstacles and turning around when needed.

Hongwei Farm currently owns 699 unmanned rice transplanters, saving more than 2 million yuan ($281,200) in labor costs each season, according to Li Yan, general manager of the company's agricultural development department.

Thanks to the unmanned transplanters, they are able to significantly improve the use and output of their paddy fields, he added.

With smart transplanters, fertilizer spraying drones and intelligent management systems, Heilongjiang has entered a new era of technological development and agricultural achievement, providing a blueprint for the future of agriculture in China.

In a field belonging to the Junchuan Farm, seven drones flew over rice seedlings, spreading liquid green manure.

With a tap on the smartphone, operators can complete the fertilization of 7 hectares of paddy fields in minutes. "We apply liquid green manure three to five days after transplanting to promote rapid rice greening and increase the yield," said Chen Long, general manager of the farm's agricultural development department.

Zhou Dehua, a farmer with the Qixing Farm, which belongs to the Jiansanjiang branch of the Beidahuang Group, one of China's major grain producers, said, "Farming was tiring in the past, but it has become much easier thanks to the development of technology."

Zhou almost gave up farming in 2012 until high-tech equipment reignited his passion. Now, the 50-year-old has expanded from 10 hectares to 26.6, and earns an annual income of nearly 200,000 yuan.

Nowadays, Jiansanjiang is home to China's largest agricultural machinery fleet, with 11,655 rice transplanters equipped with BDS. The mechanization rate is in excess of 99.8 percent, with 20 percent of agricultural operations carried out by intelligent machinery.

Heilongjiang has been the country's top grain producer for 13 consecutive years with a growing area of over 13 million hectares this year, according to the provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs.

Last year, it produced 77.63 billion kilograms of grain, accounting for 11.3 percent of the country's total.