LANZHOU, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Amid the biting winter chill, smart greenhouses in Dingxi City, northwest China's Gansu Province, are thriving with fresh fruits and vegetables, showcasing the region's year-round agricultural innovation.
Thanks to technological innovation, Gansu's agricultural facilities have developed rapidly, allowing the vegetable industry to supply fresh produce steadily throughout the year.
Located in the heart of the Loess Plateau, Dingxi boasts a cool climate, ideal for agriculture. In recent years, the city has driven agricultural development through technological innovation, embracing smart farming and moving beyond traditional weather-dependent practices.
Currently, the city has 14 intensive smart seedling bases, along with 1,265 standardized greenhouses and steel-framed sheds equipped with Internet of Things devices. Integrated water and fertilizer systems, along with 5G-enabled environmental control technology, are now fully operational, providing precise, real-time monitoring of temperature, light, water and nutrients to optimize crop growth.
The 2025 central rural work conference called for research and breakthroughs in core agricultural technologies in key fields and the efficient application of scientific and technological achievements, developing new quality productive forces in agriculture according to local conditions. This vision has become a key part of Gansu's strategy to cultivate new agricultural production capacity.
At the Dingxi Potato Research Institution, smart greenhouses are automating the entire process of seed potato production, including one-click fertilization, watering, and real-time growth monitoring. This technological empowerment has made the institute a standardized base for seed potato production and exports in China.
Li Jinfu, head of Dingxi Potato Research Institution, said that the institute produces 60 million virus-free seed potato test-tube seedlings annually, along with nearly 120 million seed potatoes. These potatoes are not only sold across China but are also exported to countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, helping pave the way for profitable specialty agriculture.
The cultivation of new agricultural productivity is improving people's livelihoods. Li Ru, a 56-year-old farmer from Chenjiawa Village in Anding District, has spent his life growing potatoes.
He has seen the remarkable transformation of farming practices. Agricultural machinery now completes in one hour what once took a whole day, plastic mulching film helps preserve moisture and improve quality, and drought-resistant crop varieties maintain stable yields while boosting farmers' income. The hardships of past subsistence farming have given way to the ease and abundance of tech-driven prosperity.
The new agricultural productivity driven by technological innovation is redefining the development of modern agriculture in Gansu. In the past, traditional agriculture relied on experience, manual labor, and animal power, which has now been replaced by a digital and intelligent model.
Gansu Province State Farm Group Co., Ltd., the province's largest modern agricultural enterprise, has been advancing new technologies and equipment while developing smart agriculture demonstration zones.
During the spring planting and autumn harvest seasons, high-tech production is a common sight across the company's farms. Driverless tractors equipped with BeiDou Navigation Satellite System plow neat lines across fields and drone fleets fly over large fields spraying atomized fertilizers evenly on crops. With the support of these high-tech devices, agricultural efficiency is now more than five times greater than traditional methods.
In Gansu's Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, a 200,000-square-meter rose "super factory" is showcasing the power of technology. The agriculture park, which began operation in 2022, integrates advanced technologies such as digital control, soilless cultivation, and post-harvest pre-cooling for fresh-cut flowers, ensuring roses bloom year-round. The annual production of fresh-cut roses exceeds 72 million stems.
Zhang Yongyou, general manager of Linxia Yinong Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Investment Co., Ltd., said the company has successfully brought its fresh-cut roses to both domestic and international markets.
By 2025, it is expected that 5.69 million stems will be exported to Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries, generating over 8.37 million yuan in sales. The company also provides 500 stable jobs, with each employee earning an average annual income of 45,000 yuan (about 6,427 U.S. dollars), supporting local rural revitalization.
In the vast Hexi Corridor, a key artery of the ancient Silk Road, winter-fallow fields are taking on new value through the cultivation of innovative agricultural products.
Sun Wancang, a professor at Gansu Agricultural University, has developed a super cold-resistant winter rapeseed variety capable of withstanding temperatures as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius. This variety is gradually expanding northward, allowing rapeseed, which once could not survive the winter, to take root in the Hexi Corridor.
At experimental bases in cities like Wuwei and Jiuquan, winter rapeseed is boosting grain and oil production while curbing dust storm sources, delivering both economic and ecological benefits.
The rapid development of agricultural new productivity is also supported by policies and project funding. During China's 14th Five-Year Plan period, Gansu has increased investment in agricultural science and technology, implementing seed industry breakthroughs and technological support projects.
A total of 129 key technologies to improve grain yield per unit area have been developed, and a special fund for agricultural machinery and equipment R&D has been set up. Backed by four years of central and provincial financial support totaling 250 million yuan, these initiatives are providing strong momentum for breakthroughs in agricultural technology.
According to Sun, the shift from traditional farming to smart agriculture is significantly empowering agricultural development through the cultivation of new agricultural productivity. ■
