Workers are setting environmental parameters for the "Smart Plant Factory".
Editor's note: The report of the 12th Party Congress of Hunan Province proposes to vigorously develop a new generation of information technology such as "Great Wisdom Moving Cloud", accelerate the promotion of digital industrialization and industrial digitization, create new advantages in the digital economy, build digital Hunan, digital government, and digital society, and let digital civilization benefit the people of the province. Rednet has launched the "Digital Hunan" series of reports at any time, sinking into the digital life scene in the form of a micro-documentary, focusing on digital homes, digital ports, digital streets, digital workshops, digital farms, digital construction sites, etc., to feel the hottest digital life.
RedNet Moment reporter Wang Yizheng Zhang Biwen Intern Zhang Xinxin reported from Changsha
There is no water, no soil, and crops grow in the air.
Recently, the red network moment reporter walked into the International Rice Capital Agricultural Technology Research Institute located in Chunhua Town, Changsha County, where he looked forward to the "future agriculture" that is being bred by the "digital soil".
Cabbage cultivated by the "Wisdom (Energy) Plant Factory".
According to the staff, this is a leek that was just harvested once two days ago, and it can be harvested again in a few days.
"We call it the 'Smart (Energy) Plant Factory,' and the biggest feature is that agriculture is free from dependence on the natural environment." Satellite, deputy chief engineer of the International Rice Capital Agricultural Technology Research Institute, further explained that the so-called natural environment is mainly soil, sunlight, climate, ecology, etc.; in the "smart (energy) plant factory", all crop growth environments are artificially designed and precisely controlled and adjusted, "At present, there are still some artificial controls, and after the upgrading of technology, all these tasks will be completed by artificial intelligence." ”
The roots of plants are soilless and waterless, and they rely on spray to transport nutrients.
The "Smart Plant Factory" can save 99% of water and 99% of the land, but the output is indeed several times or even dozens of times that of traditional agriculture.
For example, leeks can be harvested once every 7 days, lettuce can be harvested once every 15 days, and grass can be harvested once every 20 days. In addition, since the "smart (energy) plant factory" is a three-dimensional agriculture, several layers of planting units can be built on the land per unit area, which also makes the yield of crops increase geometrically.
After the light intensity, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, microbial flora, etc. are precisely controlled, the "Smart (Energy) Plant Factory" has built a new and independent plant optimal growth ecosystem.
One of the core foundational technologies that make up this ecosystem is the "digital soil."
"Smart (energy) plant factory" big data management platform.
Precise control of the growing environment of crops.
"Simply put, according to the growth characteristics of crops, we will elementalize fertilizers, nano-minerals, form aerosolization, and system biobialization, and adjust the various elements, nutrients, microorganisms, oxygen, and water content and temperature of roots required for plant growth by regulating the size of fog droplets and the density of sprays, so as to match the optimal ecological environment for plant growth and tap the maximum biological yield of plants." Dr. Huang Qi, President of the International Rice Capital Agricultural Technology Research Institute, introduced.
Specifically, the plants are planted on the aerosol box, the roots are suspended in the air, and the root system is supplied with nutrients by spraying. It is inspired by the tropical rainforest, in the tropical rainforest plants are very tall, very dense, careful observation will find that many plants have a very developed air root system, is grown in the air.
"Although it was not the initiative of the International Rice Capital Agricultural Technology Research Institute, we are the first to realize the landing of the scene and are currently developing in the direction of industrialization." In Huang Qi's view, once this agricultural production method is industrialized, it will be subversive.
High-quality pasture grass cultivated for animal husbandry in Xinjiang.
Huang Qi introduced that the ecosystem takes Academician Yuan Longping's "high-quality and high-yield theory" as the scientific basis, takes the light biology and plant growth environment model as the theoretical support, summarizes the traditional crop planting technology and experience, on the basis of the perception of the Internet of Things and the logic control of artificial intelligence, through the cross-border deep integration of agricultural technology, information technology, biotechnology and engineering technology, artificial intelligence, etc., according to the genetic characteristics of different plants, design and create the best environmental conditions required for plant growth.
After years of scientific research, the International Daodu Agricultural Technology Research Institute has developed a series of smart plant factory systems with core technology patents, including: high-efficiency plant growth lamps, carbon dioxide traps, microbial nutrient solutions, big data Internet of Things management center, etc.
Taking light as an example, we are familiar with the fact that plants need photosynthesis. But light also has an inducing effect, that is, to tell plants when to germinate and when to flower and bear fruit, in a sense, it can be understood as giving plants the concept of time.
The high-efficiency plant growth lamp simulates the different wavelengths of light required for plant growth, and this light can be precisely controlled to induce the plant to optimize growth.
In the "Wisdom (Energy) Plant Factory", the reporter at least saw a variety of crops such as lettuce, leeks, cabbage, strawberries, and golden grass.
It is worth mentioning that the reporter also saw a well-known variety of peppers in Hunan, and the seedlings were only planted for more than two weeks before they flowered, and they could hang fruit in another week.
"But the 'digital soil' is not without temporary defects, unlike traditional agriculture, we are agricultural production according to industrial thinking, we can accurately calculate the cost, and the cost of producing agricultural products in Changsha is still slightly higher than that of traditional agriculture." Dr. HuangQi explained that this is due to the fact that the "smart (energy) plant factory" mainly uses electricity as an energy source, while the electricity price in Changsha is relatively higher.
In 2021, the "smart (energy) plant factory" found a new industrialization scene in Xinjiang.
"At present, the 'International Rice Capital' has reached construction agreements with many places in Xinjiang. Two 'smart forage factories' covering an area of 10,000 square meters are under construction. Huang Qi said.
The "digital soil" produced in Hunan is in Xinjiang, thousands of kilometers away, helping the revitalization of local rural areas and the take-off of animal husbandry.