The Chinese government is encouraging companies to develop, within seven years, a fully automated machine capable of planting, fertilizing and harvesting rice, wheat and corn.
The push for the introduction of science into traditional production is key, as China faces an aging rural workforce and a shortage of young people willing to endure the difficulties associated with working the land, reported Reuters.
“Automated farming is the way ahead and demand for it here is huge,” said Cheng Yue, general manager of tractor maker Changzhou Dongfeng CVT Co., in the Reuters article. Changzhou Dongfeng CVT Co. provided an autonomous vehicle that was used at a trial in the rice field in Xinghua, a county in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
The next trials are slated for the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and for the hills around the southwestern city of Chongqing in the first half of this year.
To achieve the ambitious seven-year policy goal, the Chinese government is pushing for local testing, which will be organized by the Telematics Industry Application Alliance.
