With China's "No 1 central document" for 2025 calling for technical advancement and all-around rural vitalization, Chinese farmers are showing more enthusiasm in using the latest technology to boost their incomes.
In East China's Shandong province, winter date grower Guo Ning expressed a myriad of emotions while looking at the thriving winter jujube trees growing at the Guo Ning Winter Jujube Demonstration Park in Xiahe Town.
In order to usher in an early harvest of his winter dates and sell them for a good price, Guo has introduced "smart temperature control "technology to the greenhouses in the park, set up by the local township government with an investment of 1.6 million yuan ($221,270).
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At Guo's demonstration park, a key industrial project in the town, controlling greenhouse temperatures is conducive to maintaining the activity of the root system and boosting the revival of seedlings in early spring, said Xu Lin, government head of Xiahe town in Zhanhua district.
In recent years, Zhanhua, which is part of the prefecture-level city of Binzhou, has vigorously developed its winter jujube industry and bolstered modern agricultural technology, helping jujube growers raise their income and become prosperous.
Zhanhua, sitting on the lower reaches of the Yellow River in northern Shandong, governs two sub-districts, seven towns and two townships with a total population surpassing 331,800.
Guo said the air-powered heating equipment in his greenhouses — consisting of a main unit, a water storage tank, water connections, air outlets and other parts — can drive water circulation through a heat pump and uses 12 air outlets to deliver warm air into the entire greenhouse, achieving intelligent control of inside temperatures.
"This device can help winter jujubes to mature earlier and usher in a harvest in late June, three months earlier than traditional cultivation," said Li Bing, Party secretary of Xiahe.
"The No 1 central document has been giving us much strength each year, offering a new guide in technical advancement and new direction in rural vitalization," he said.
"In the next step, we will fully leverage the advantages of our characteristic agricultural industries such as greenhouse winter jujube, organic fruits and vegetables, and introduce advanced management technologies, improving the quality and efficiency of these industries, and bolstering farmers' income," Li added.
As the winter jujube industry is starting to become more developed through the use of smart technologies, efficient use of air-powered heating equipment is the future development path for the industry, said Meng Xianggui, a local expert in greenhouse winter jujube cultivation.
To reduce the growth cycle of winter jujubes and seek early harvests, Xiahe has helped upgrade 8,000 mu (533 hectares) of winter jujubes in the town and turned them into greenhouse cultivation.
"This year, with our newly installed air heating equipment in the greenhouse, the interior temperature can reach 25 C during daytime and remain around 10 C at night," Guo said, noting that he was pleased to see his winter jujube trees sprout during the Spring Festival holiday.
However, the smooth running of the new equipment cannot happen without ample power, as the increased equipment makes the power load rise sharply and aging power lines can be a risk, he said.
As the unstable voltage can lead to frequent failures in temperature control, Guo reached out to the State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Co for timely help.
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Du Zuyin, director of Xiahe Town Power Supply Station, led his team to replace a 200 kVA (kilovolt-ampere) transformer for Guo's park, and renewed the previous bare aluminum wires with insulated cables to ensure stable power transmission.
He also introduced an inspection mechanism to check the park's power facilities on a monthly basis to prevent potential hazards.
"Now with stable electricity and precise operation of the temperature control equipment, my winter jujubes can be harvested about 15 days earlier than usual, hiking my sales significantly," Guo said.
