IoT technology brings new vitality to smart agriculture
On the computer screen, rows of fans in the chicken farm are ventilating the coop. Then, a staff member picks up a phone and taps lightly, and the fans in the chicken farm immediately stop spinning; one more tap, and they start running again. With one computer and one phone, you can monitor the growth of the chickens in the coop in real time from home; for feeding and ventilation, you only need to press a button to make the coop understand the "command".
In today's highly developed information technology era, the application of IoT has brought intelligence into traditional fields and delivered tangible changes to people's production and daily life. Recently, the author visited two project units in Hebi City, Henan Province, selected for the first batch of Henan Province's top ten IoT application projects, to learn more.
IoT breeding: from a single egg to deep-processed chicken products, almost no manual labor is needed
Rows of neatly placed eggs can be vaccinated in the embryo through mechanical equipment on the production line; one fluffy chick after another, as they are transported along the conveyor belt, are automatically separated into males and females; in the clean and tidy coop, procedures such as automatic temperature adjustment, automatic water supply and automatic feed supply can be achieved without manual labor... Recently, at Hebi Kubo Electromechanical Technology Co., Ltd. in Henan Province, manager Zhang Zhandong showed the author via video the process of broiler breeding, slaughtering and deep processing of chicken meat under full computer control through IoT applications. "Through IoT technology, fertilized eggs and white eggs (unfertilized eggs) can be automatically sorted, males and females can be intelligently distinguished, the coop can be automatically controlled, and automatic chicken catching as well as automatic cutting and deep processing of chicken meat can also be achieved," Zhang Zhandong introduced. "From a single egg to the final deep-processed chicken product, almost no manual labor is needed. In the traditional way of raising chickens, 14 people could raise 50,000 chickens; now, with IoT technology, two people can raise 1.5 million chickens."
The application of IoT technology has greatly improved enterprise efficiency and reduced enterprise costs. According to the introduction, the implementation of IoT projects can effectively reduce energy consumption by 30%-40%, lower production costs by 50%-60%, and cut labor costs by 60%-70%, while also playing a positive role in promoting food safety control from the source.
IoT vegetable growing: real-time collection of environmental data, a click of the mouse is enough to grow well
The manager lightly clicks the mouse, and the large screen shows the real-time monitoring footage from a farmers' cooperative's vegetable greenhouse, while also displaying values such as air temperature and humidity, soil temperature and humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, light intensity and air pressure inside the greenhouse. Recently, the author experienced the convenience that IoT technology brings to agricultural production at the China (Hebi) Agricultural Silicon Valley Industrial Park. "We place sensors in the greenhouse to collect environmental data in real time. Whether there is a lack of water or enough oxygen can be judged from the measured data, reading the 'voice' of the plants, and then this information is transmitted back through wireless sensing devices," introduced Wang Jing, assistant to the general manager of the enterprise's Strategic Development Department. Through this IoT system, as long as managers download the client, no matter where they are, they can see the growth conditions of the plants in the greenhouse via computer or mobile phone. If any of the monitored data exceeds the standard value we set, the manager's mobile phone will sound an alarm. "For example, if the plants in the greenhouse lack water, the administrator's mobile phone will receive an alarm message. If the administrator is busy and does not notice the alarm message, after a period of time, the sprinkler irrigation machine in the greenhouse will start automatically," Wang Jing said by way of example.