CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Monday, August 9, 2021 | 5 CHINA

Getting in shape Digitalization seen

People dance on a square in Lianyungang, as key to future of province, on Sunday. China desig- nated Aug 8, the date when the 29th Sum- rural vitalization mer Olympics kicked off in in 2008, By Zhao Yimeng agement and boost the agricultural as its National Fitness [email protected] chain through digital technology. Day. Sunday marked Shandong Qihe Biotechnology, the 13th such day. Digital agriculture, the practice of China’s biggest mushroom log GENG YUHE / FOR CHINA DAILY integrating advanced technology exporter, uses numerical control, into farming, is driving China’s rural big data, sensors and 5G technolo- vitalization, according to experts. gy at the smart factory it built to Huang Jikun, a member of the cultivate shiitake mushrooms. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Hu Zhengpeng, director of the Affairs’ rural vitalization advisory company’s information office, committee, said that digital tech- said the smart factory has auto- nology is bound to play a bigger mated production procedures role in the country’s steps toward including bagging, sterilization rural vitalization and agricultural and stacking, and it has promoted modernization. digital technology in logistics and “The digitalization of rural marketing. industries is key to developing the Few employees are visible in the countryside, and it is a new driver smart factory’s plant. of a sustainable rural economy,” “We used to have 20 to 30 work- Huang said. ers in each plant operating Integrating new technology like machines, but now we only need big data, artificial intelligence and two or three to inspect machinery, the internet of things with crop and which has greatly saved on labor Pandemic controls, crackdown livestock production will be central costs,” Hu said. to developing smart agriculture. Daily capacity is now 10 times “The involvement of digital that of traditional plants, reaching technologies across the supply 60,000 bags a day. Smart technolo- chain will help increase efficiency gies are also used to operate high while reducing costs,” Huang said. temperature equipment that can stem flow of drugs into China The push toward digital agricul- ensure 100 percent sterilization — ture is the result of a plan released vital to the uncontaminated in January last year aimed at growth of mushrooms — double Golden Triangle cent year-on-year, and seizing 1.1 tons improving smart agriculture and the efficiency of traditional boilers. of methamphetamine and ketamine, providing support for rural vitaliza- source of most down 54.8 percent year-on-year. tion in the years leading up to 2025. heroin, opium, But drug manufacturing could Jointly released by the Ministry still rebound, the report warned. of Agriculture and Rural Affairs The system ... acts as ketamine and With the normalization of pandem- and the Cyberspace Administra- ic prevention and control measures, tion of China, the plan proposed a decision-support meth last year domestic drugmaking activities building a basic data system for system for precise rebounded in the second half of last rural areas to facilitate targeted farm management By Yang Zekun year, with the number of cases management and services. [email protected] solved increasing 26.2 percent year- The topic was initially proposed by monitoring the on-year, and the number of manu- in 2018’s No 1 Central Document — growth of crops and Strict pandemic control measures facturing places destroyed up by the name given to the first policy and a successful crackdown have 33.6 percent year-on-year. statement released by the Commu- environmental reduced drug crimes in China by Intensified control of precursor nist Party of China Central Commit- stress.” stemming the flow of drugs being chemicals, including tightened bor- tee and the State Council, China’s smuggled into the country, a drug situ- der inspections, reduced the amount Cabinet, each year — and was reit- Yu Qiangyi, expert at the Chi- ation report released last month said. of regulated chemicals on the control erated in this year’s document, nese Academy of Agricultural The Drug Situation in China list that flowed into illegal channels. which also highlighted research Sciences (2020), issued by the National Nar- A police officer warns about the harm that drugs can do at a con- Police solved 307 cases of produc- into and the use of intelligent agri- cotics Control Commission, said the struction site in Bozhou, Anhui province, in June. ing, smuggling, trading or trans- cultural machinery as well as the Intelligent settings have not positive trend in drug control had ZHANG YANLIN / FOR CHINA DAILY porting precursor chemicals last development of smart agriculture only reduced manpower, but also been consolidated. year, down 7.5 percent year-on-year, based on the internet of things, sen- ensured the best indoor environ- It said the vast majority of drugs and seized 2,335 tons of chemicals. sors, location systems and robots. ment for mushroom cultivation, in China come from the Golden Tri- and the Ministry of Public Security ship-borne cargo or international However, drug manufacturers Xu Lijun, an expert at the Chi- Hu added. angle region, where Thailand, Laos launched an operation named Jing- mail packages and entered China resorted to purchasing precursor nese Academy of Agricultural Sci- The company invested 200 mil- and Myanmar meet. bian in 2018 to target drug crimes in through southeast or east coast cities. chemicals that are not on the control ences’ Institute of Agricultural lion yuan ($30.85 million) in the Chinese police seized 26.3 metric border areas, with the southwestern China saw declines in the number list in a dispersed manner before syn- Resources and Regional Planning, smart factory. Since it began oper- tons of major drugs last year — province of Yunnan the main focus. of drug users, large-scale drug man- thesizing them into the required raw and her team used digital technol- ation in April last year, it has pro- including heroin, methampheta- The operation expanded to ufacturing activities and the misuse materials, making supervision, inves- ogy to promote a new oat variety in duced 30 million mushroom logs mine and ketamine — down 20.3 per- Guangdong province and the of precursor materials last year. tigation and blocking of such activi- Huize county, Yunnan province. worth some 200 million yuan. cent from the 33 tons seized in 2019. Guangxi Zhuang autonomous The number of drug users has ties more difficult, the report said. Since she began working on digi- The company has a production Almost 85 percent of the major drugs region last year, and police focused decreased for three consecutive years. Drug trafficking activities using tal agriculture in Huize in Novem- base covering 133 hectares and seized last year were from overseas. on the whole criminal chain, includ- China had 1.8 million drug users by new internet technologies and ber 2017, oat cultivation has become produces 75 million mushroom Both traditional and synthetic ing the control of illicit manufactur- the end of last year, down 16.1 percent logistics delivery channels central to poverty alleviation and logs a year, with a total annual pro- drugs entered China from the Gold- ing and the rectification of the year-on-year. Police caught 427,000 increased significantly. Criminals rural vitalization in the county. duction value of 600 million yuan. en Triangle, the report said. logistics industry to contain drug drug users last year, down 30.8 per- used public online platforms to The team had access to the most “We plan to build a big data plat- Chinese police seized 6.3 tons of smuggling, the commission said. cent year-on-year, with 155,000 of release drug-related information, comprehensive database of grass form to collect figures across the heroin and opium from the region The flow of heroin from the Gold- them newly detected, the report said. process payments via digital curren- varieties as well as related cultiva- entire supply chain of edible mush- last year, accounting for 96.2 per- en Crescent region — where Afghan- Due to the anti-drug crackdown cies and arrange transport, making tion methods and field manage- rooms around the world,” Hu said. cent of the amount seized in the istan, Pakistan and Iran meet — and intensified controls on precur- investigations more difficult. ment strategies for pest prevention, Huang said digital infrastruc- country, and 18.8 tons of metham- cocaine from South America and sor materials, the output of domestic The commission said it would which provided technological sup- ture is laying the foundation for phetamine and ketamine, 83.1 per- marijuana from North America drug manufacturing declined last focus on the prevention and control port for agricultural development. boosting rural vitalization cent of total seizures of those drugs. increased last year, the report said. year, along with the market share of of risks associated with new drugs Due to its high altitude and cool through digital technologies. Due to the strict pandemic and bor- Authorities in China seized 186 kilo- domestically manufactured drugs. this year by improving drug control in climate, Huize regularly faced “China should promote the con- der control measures, a large quantity grams of heroin originating from the Police in 27 provincial-level regions key sectors, setting up demonstration shortages of forage. The county struction of remote-sensing facili- of drugs from the region had been Golden Crescent last year, 1.4 times uncovered drugmaking activities last programs and stepping up govern- was trying to find a crop that would ties in rural areas and improve the stockpiled near the border, and drug more than in 2019; 582 kg of cocaine year. They were mainly small-scale, ance of drug problems in rural areas. grow well and boost the rural econ- service and management of agri- traffickers were looking for opportu- from South America, 2.5 times more used simple technology and had frag- It said it would also strengthen omy when Xu’s team arrived. cultural production driven by big nities to transport drugs to China and than in the previous year; and 16.9 kg mented distribution. Police solved preventive education, monitoring, After analyzing natural resources data,” he said. Southeast Asian countries, it said. of marijuana from North America, 1.6 294 drug-manufacturing cases international cooperation and the through remote sensing data and Yu Qiangyi, an expert at CAAS To prevent drugs from the region times more than a year earlier. nationwide last year, destroying 167 control of precursor chemicals to conducting experiments, the team who participated in the formulation flowing into China, the commission The drugs were mainly hidden in manufacturing places, down 3.5 per- resolutely tackle drug problems. settled on oats as the most suitable of the development plan, said his crop and began to explore the team is working on a smart sensing adaptability of different varieties. system that integrates data gathered Their experiments led to an from satellites and drones and on average yield of 4.5 metric tons per the ground. Such data can produce ’s confirmed COVID-19 cases climb to 308 hectare, with the highest yield hit- an overall picture of the environ- ting 6.75 tons per hectare, five ment and agricultural production. By CANG WEI in Nanjing the recent outbreak,” Liu Magen, resident told Health Times. the provinces of Hubei and Hunan. times that of the variety previously “The system not only collects and ZHOU HUIYING deputy Party secretary of the scenic Eight officials from Yangzhou Seven villages in Kaifeng, Henan, grown in Huize. data from multiple sensors, but area, said on Saturday. “At least 18 have been punished for failures were named high-risk areas for “We were finally able to select a also acts as a decision-support sys- Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu prov- locally transmitted confirmed COV- related to COVID-19 epidemic pre- COVID-19 on Sunday, the city gov- suitable variety, and then we pro- tem for precise farm management ince, is facing a serious and complex ID-19 cases have been found to have vention and control, the city’s disci- ernment said. moted it across the county. We by monitoring the growth of crops COVID-19 control and prevention visited the lounge since July 28.” plinary watchdog said in a Meanwhile, six officials in Nan- were responsible for smart agri- and environmental stress in terms situation as it is in the midst of a A 70-year-old woman surnamed statement issued on Sunday. jing, the capital of Jiangsu province, culture management in the oat of water, soil and air quality and concentrated outbreak, local Mao was diagnosed as a confirmed It said three officials from Hanjiang have received severe punishment fields, such as indicating through the ecosystem,” Yu said. authorities said. case on July 28 after being found to district and five from Guangling dis- due to their failures in COVID-19 data when to weed and when to “Moreover, the application of AI “Epidemic control and preven- be positive for coronavirus during trict were given punishments that epidemic prevention and control, control pests,” Xu said, adding that technology helps the smart diag- tion is the top priority of our cur- tests conducted on close contacts of ranged from administrative demerits the provincial disciplinary watch- the digital center they built in nosis of crop health, so farmers rent work,” Jiangsu Governor Wu the first confirmed case in Yangzhou. to notices of criticism. dog said on Saturday. Huize also supports the cultiva- know how and where to apply Zhenglong said in Yangzhou on She had often visited the lounge to During the collection of swab sam- Wang Chao, deputy general man- tion of tomatoes and other crops. products like pesticide.” Saturday. play mahjong. ples at a nucleic acid testing spot on ager of Eastern Airports, a State- As a result, Huize is now consid- The use of fertilizers and pesti- Jiangsu recorded 38 new locally A total of 1,553 close contacts in July 29 in Guangling, staff members owned company that oversees seven ering turning to e-commerce plat- cides on wheat-corn rotation fields transmitted confirmed COVID-19 the scenic area have been traced and failed to organize orderly testing and airports in Jiangsu, including Nan- forms to expand the market for in North China was reduced by up cases on Saturday, including 36 that put under quarantine for medical deviated from set operating stan- jing Lukou International Airport; Yin local agricultural products. to 10 percent thanks to the applica- were detected in Yangzhou, the observation, Liu said. dards. That led to 23 people being Yunwen, director of the company’s The national development plan tion of the system, while yields Jiangsu Provincial Health Commis- Data from the Yangzhou city gov- infected by a man who was later diag- emergency rescue department; and mandates boosting agricultural increased by 10 percent. sion said on Sunday. Yangzhou has ernment website shows that over nosed as a locally transmitted con- Xu Yongjie, director of the company’s digitalization and making break- The integrated system has also reported 308 local cases since July 300 complaints about mahjong firmed COVID-19 patient on Aug 1. ground service department, have throughs in key technologies and been used at a smart orchard in 28, including six in critical condition lounges were submitted during the The case showed that serious been put under investigation by the equipment, including automated Chengdu, capital of Sichuan and another 19 in serious condition. past year, covering problems such as problems of formalism and provincial disciplinary watchdog. packaging lines and intelligent province. Seven areas classified as medium poor sanitation and poor epidemic bureaucracy existed among some Hu Wanjin, vice-mayor of Nan- temperature-control systems. “It enables the management of risk for COVID-19 are in Yangzhou’s prevention and control, medical officials, the statement said. jing, was given an administrative Companies in Zibo, Shandong each fruit tree, providing targeted Slender scenic area. newspaper Health Times reported. Elsewhere around the country on demerit. province, have been encouraged to information for farmers,” Yu said, “A mahjong lounge named “Most of the mahjong enthusiasts Sunday, authorities reported 24 apply automated, mechanical and adding that they are planning to Hongyuan located in that area has are elderly people and don’t take local cases in Henan province, seven Contact the writers at intelligent equipment to develop promote the system in a rice field become the key site for the spread of preventive measures seriously,” one in Yunnan province and six each in [email protected] agricultural production and man- in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.