An aerial drone photo captured on Oct 12, 2024, offered a glimpse into the future of agriculture in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. The image, taken over a farm belonging to the Beidahuang Group, showcased agricultural machines working in harmony with the landscape, a testament to the region’s embrace of technology in farming.
Heilongjiang, China’s largest agricultural producer, is doubling down on technological innovation to enhance high-quality agricultural development. During a group discussion in Beijing, Heilongjiang Governor Liang Huiling underscored the province’s unique advantages, notably its location within one of the world’s three major black soil belts. This prime area is ideal for corn cultivation and livestock farming, contributing significantly to national food security.
Last year, Heilongjiang’s total grain output reached a record 80 billion kilograms, securing its position as China’s top grain producer for the 15th consecutive year. This output accounts for 11.3 percent of the country’s total, meaning “One out of every nine bowls of rice nationwide comes from Heilongjiang,” as Liang put it.
The province is focusing on modern agriculture to convert its resource advantages into industrial, economic, and developmental benefits. Technological innovation is at the heart of Heilongjiang’s agricultural strategy. With 78 higher education institutions and 120 independent research institutes, including four national key laboratories focused on agriculture, the province is well-equipped to drive agricultural advancements.
Liang emphasized the importance of preserving black soil, likening it to the “panda of arable land” due to its high nutrient content. Most of China’s black soil is concentrated in the northeast, making the region vital for national food security. Last year, Heilongjiang developed 693,333 hectares of high-standard farmland, integrating soil improvement with windbreak forest networks. This year, the province aims to build nearly 780,000 hectares of such farmland.
Beidahuang Group, the world’s largest State-owned farm group, is at the forefront of this agricultural revolution. The group is accelerating informatization, digitalization, intelligence, and unmanned farming. Yu Jia’ao, Party secretary of Beidahuang’s Baoquanling branch, highlighted the group’s collaboration with the Harbin Institute of Technology and Northeast Agricultural University to establish a national key laboratory for smart agricultural technology and information.
Currently, 40 percent of Beidahuang’s agricultural machinery is equipped with automatic driving technology, and more than 90 percent of its farms collect field data through sensors. This shift from weather-dependent farming to data-driven operations is a significant step towards sustainable and efficient agriculture.
Yu urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to support soybean research in Heilongjiang, including the construction of a soybean seed base and coordination with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to accelerate the development of a soybean research center. Agriculture Minister Han Jun responded positively, confirming the ministry’s approval of the soybean seed base project and the inclusion of a soybean research center in Heihe city in the ministry’s project list.
