Pinggu Smart Agriculture Empowers and Enhances Rural Revitalization

In the Smart Orchard in Xiying Village, Yukou Town, Pinggu District, a group of young people can always be seen “tinkering” with some machinery and equipment, sometimes shuttling between tree rows, and sometimes flying into the sky to spray operations. The sound of “bumps, clatters, shouts…” attracted passing villagers to stop and observe. This is precisely the research activity carried out by postdoctoral fellows Jiang Yulin, Yu Congwei, and graduate students Wu Hecheng, Liu Dian, Liu Qiang, Jin Liujian from the Pinggu Special Project of the Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Research Institute of China Agricultural University.

More than ten young people have used an intelligent system to manage smart orchards in an orderly manner. By integrating technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, mechanical operations replacing manual operations, and intelligent agricultural machinery equipment, they have solved the problems of labor shortage and low production efficiency. They have achieved digital intelligence, full mechanization, and green ecology in orchard agricultural operations decision-making, created products and brands for future orchards, and incubated intellectual property rights for future orchards, Becoming a replicable commercial and large-scale industrial pilot for agriculture in Beijing.

Xiying Smart Orchard, relying on the Beijing Modern Agricultural Industrial Park project, was jointly built by Pinggu District and the Agricultural Drone System Research Institute of China Agricultural University. In June 2021, the “Pinggu Postdoctoral Project of the Agricultural Drone System Research Institute of China Agricultural University” was jointly established by He Xiongkui, the head of the Organization Department of China Agricultural University, Pinggu District Committee, and the Agricultural Drone System Research Institute.

Xiying Smart Orchard has built a modern smart orchard integrated management solution, including smart orchard management platform, orchard information acquisition system, water fertilizer integration system, intelligent pest management system, as well as intelligent operation equipment systems such as orchard automatic target variable spray, multi-function operation platform, intelligent mower, picking robot, remote sensing UAV, plant protection UAV, etc. The implementation of the smart orchard management model has reduced labor costs by more than 50%, reduced pesticide usage by 30-40%, reduced fertilizer usage by 25-35%, reduced irrigation water consumption by 60-70%, greatly improved fruit quality, and increased comprehensive economic benefits by 32.5%. Professor He Xiongkui introduced the smart orchard management model.

It is reported that the Xiying Smart Orchard project currently covers over 400 acres, including 300 acres of pear orchards and 150 acres of peach orchards. Relying on the construction of a municipal modern agricultural industrial park, it aims to create a comprehensive demonstration smart orchard with highly concentrated elements, intelligent facilities and equipment, and highly integrated three industries. In order to promote the sharing of development achievements and technological innovation dividends among farmers, further strengthen and cultivate the rural collective organizational economy, and form a pilot and demonstration effect for the fruit industry in the entire region.

Taking the Xiying Smart Orchard as an opportunity, Yukou Town has built a complete set of equipment supporting standards, horticultural construction system, and big data management platform around the operation of the orchard. With Yukou Town level land joint venture companies as the main body, it is exploring a scientific and replicable management model path for incubating high-quality fruit industries.