Technology makes citrus orchard in Guangxi intelligent

An intelligent system for irrigation and fertilization makes tree cultivation easier at Haisheng, a citrus orchard in Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Sensors scattered across the orchard monitor real-time conditions of the soil, including moisture, fertility and temperature. These data are collected and transmitted to a cloud platform for analysis, which helps provide scientific suggestion on irrigating and fertilizing citrus trees. The orchard keeper can read the analysis results on a mini-program in WeChat and remotely control the system.

An intelligent device for collecting soil data is installed at Haisheng citrus orchard in Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. [Photo provided to China Plus]

"The system can tell me the proper time for irrigating and fertilizing as well as the exact amount of water and fertilizer, so what I need to do is just touch the mobile phone screen to activate the drip system," said Wei Huating, keeper of Haisheng citrus orchard. She is the only keeper responsible for irrigation and fertilization on the 200-hectare orchard.

Wei Huating, keeper of Haisheng citrus orchard, reads analysis results for soil data on her mobile phone at the orchard in Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on October 23, 2018. [Photo: China Plus/Sang Yarong]

"The smart and precise fertigation not only helps save labor but also helps reduce the consumption of water and fertilizer by over 70 and 50 percent respectively," said Shi Jianfeng, general manager of Haisheng citrus orchard.

Shi Jianfeng, general manager of Haisheng citrus orchard, introduces the intelligent fertigation system at the orchard in Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on October 23, 2018. [Photo: China Plus/Sang Yarong]

Shi added that this year Haisheng citrus orchard has started cooperation with Aliyun, cloud computing and AI subsidiary of Alibaba, in building agriculture big data, which will make the orchard more intelligent in preventing and controlling tree diseases and pests.