Shanghai pilots first unmanned farm

Shanghai has piloted the city's first unmanned farm in an effort to raise farming efficiency and cut labor costs.

So far, autonomous agricultural machinery has been used in the entire farming process of over 133,333 square meters of rice fields in Waigang township of Shanghai.

Currently, experts in Waigang are modifying more agricultural machinery, such as rice transplanters, pesticide sprayers and harvesters, into unmanned ones.

Compared with the traditional way of agriculture, unmanned farming can save more than 2 kg of seeds and increase the yield by 10 kg for 1 mu (about 667 square meters) of farmland, according to experts.

Fuel and labor costs will be significantly reduced by over 50 percent and 65 percent respectively, while the land use rate will be raised by 0.5 to 1 percent.

Local authorities in Waigang will further promote autonomous farming by using technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and artificial intelligence.

The demonstration area of unmanned farming in Waigang is expected to be expanded to 107 hectares by the end of 2022.

Over the next five years, Shanghai plans to build 13 pilot farming areas where high-quality agricultural development will be promoted.