The current situation and development suggestions of intelligent facility agriculture in China

As of the end of 2019, China's greenhouse area of various types was nearly 1.9 million hectares (excluding small and medium-sized sheds), ranking first in the world. Among 

them, there are nearly 60000 hectares of connected greenhouses, 570000 hectares of solar greenhouses, and 1.225 million hectares of plastic greenhouses. The proportion of 

connected greenhouses has been increasing year by year. From the perspective of regional layout, greenhouses in China are mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning, 

Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. Among them, the greenhouse area in Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning, and Hebei provinces accounts for almost half of the national 

greenhouse area. With the vigorous development of facility agriculture, the intelligentization of facility agriculture has become the focus of further development. This article 

discusses this topic to promote its healthy development.

What is facility agriculture intelligence

1. Facility agriculture and its innovative development

Facility agriculture is a modern agricultural production method that comprehensively utilizes modern biology, engineering, and information technology to improve the local 

environment, providing relatively controllable environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, light, water and fertilizer, and air for animal and plant production. It 

establishes an annual continuous production system for animals and plants on limited land, and has the characteristics of high technological content, high input, high output, and 

high efficiency. The development of facility agriculture has important practical significance for improving the quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of agricultural development, 

enhancing the modernization level of agriculture, and achieving the leap from a large agricultural province to a strong agricultural province.

In recent years, facility agriculture has made significant progress in automation control, biotechnology integration, intelligent environmental control, mechanization popularization, 

and land use optimization. The modern control system of facility agriculture is developing towards intelligent and automated management. These systems can automatically 

monitor and regulate temperature, light, water, gas, fertilizer, and other factors in a controllable environment through computer based on the different environmental needs of 

crops, achieving efficient production of greenhouse crops 24/7 and annually.

The state encourages the use of qualified waste land, barren hills and slopes, agricultural greenhouses, mudflat, landfill sites and other sites to build photovoltaic projects. Such a 

"agriculture light complementary" model can not only improve energy utilization efficiency, but also help the development of facility agriculture. In addition, there may be more 

innovations based on biotechnology in facility agriculture, such as biofertilizers, biopharmaceuticals, biologics, etc., which will become important trends in technological innovation

in facility agriculture.

Environmental intelligent control technology is an important direction for the development of facility agriculture technology. Through research on efficient utilization of agricultural 

resources and agricultural engineering equipment technology, facility agriculture will develop towards a series of technological research directions such as low energy 

consumption, high efficiency, and intelligence. This will help reduce resource waste, improve resource utilization efficiency, and also contribute to environmental protection and 

sustainable development.

With the advancement of technology, key technical issues in facility agriculture will be solved, and the mechanization process of facility agriculture will accelerate, such as 

small-scale agricultural machinery and equipment, new covering materials for greenhouses, and intelligent water and fertilizer systems. Not only can it improve production 

efficiency and reduce labor intensity, but it will also help promote the scale and intensive development of facility agriculture.

Faced with the tight constraints of land resources in our country, facility agriculture focuses on the new situation of future resource shortages and the continuous transfer of rural 

labor force. With the goal of high-yield and high-quality production and regional optimization as a means, it continuously innovates engineering technology. This will involve the 

management and filing process of facility agriculture land, as well as how to achieve maximum output and benefits of facility agriculture with limited land resources.

2. Intelligent Facility Agriculture

It refers to the process of precise control and management of facility agriculture using modern technological means, such as intelligent IT information technology, agricultural 

expert systems, crop decision-making information systems, etc. These technological means can help farmers make agricultural predictions and implement production, thereby 

improving the yield and quality of agricultural products, reducing resource consumption and environmental pollution, and enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural 

production. Four key technologies for intelligent facility agriculture:

1) Intelligent IT Information Technology

The application of intelligent IT information technology in facility agriculture is mainly achieved through agricultural expert systems. An agricultural expert system is a practical 

system that possesses high-level, multi-faceted agricultural expert knowledge and can mimic human reasoning processes, providing users with various agricultural problem 

consulting services in a visual and intuitive manner on computers or other intelligent terminals. It can not only store and disseminate various agricultural information and 

knowledge, but also integrate scattered and local single agricultural technologies comprehensively. Through intelligent information processing, it can provide systematic and 

adaptable intelligent comprehensive solutions to various agricultural problems based on different soil and climate, crop physiological characteristics, growth characteristics and 

other environmental conditions.

2) Intelligent facilities and equipment

Intelligent facility agriculture also includes crop or agricultural intelligent control systems, crop intelligent machinery, etc. These devices can process agricultural production, 

technology, and economic information through information technology, helping producers and managers make tailored decisions, improve scientific management level, change 

the blindness and subjectivity of grassroots leaders' decisions, reduce decision-making errors, and promote the development of agricultural production.

3) Environmental monitoring and management

The intelligent environmental monitoring and management of facility agriculture mainly includes the collection module of greenhouse environmental parameters such as 

temperature, humidity, light, CO concentration, water and fertilizer, as well as the precise control of execution equipment such as shading, ventilation, heating, supplementary 

lighting, irrigation, etc. In addition, it also involves the construction of wireless transmission networks, research on solar power supply and energy storage methods, as well as the 

construction of functional management platforms such as video remote monitoring, real-time environmental monitoring, growth prediction and early warning, equipment remote 

control, expert interactive consultation, pest and disease control assistance, and product traceability.

4) The Application of Digital Technology

Digital technology also plays a crucial role in the intelligentization of facility agriculture. The entry of industrial elements characterized by digital technology into the agricultural 

field has endowed agricultural industrialization with distinct characteristics of the times. By leading the direction of agricultural industrialization through the digital economy, we 

can pay more attention to the application of digital technology in production, expand the scope of digital technology application, pay more attention to the regional balanced 

development of digitalization, overcome the "digital divide" between regions, pay more attention to the leading role of enterprises in the development of the digital economy, form 

a good situation of mutual benefit and sharing between farmers and enterprises, strengthen the training of farmers' digital literacy and skills, enhance farmers' digital literacy, and 

enable farmers to fully enjoy the development dividends of the digital age.

The latest achievements in intelligent facility agriculture in China

1. Top 10 Smart Facility Agricultural Science and Technology Achievements of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

On April 28, 2024, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences released the top ten smart facility agricultural technology achievements, including new technologies, 

achievements, and equipment such as the mushroom picking robot, pig identification system, and facility multimodal intelligent perception autonomous inspection equipment, 

which jointly witnessed the innovation strength and development potential of China's agricultural technology.

The development speed of facility agriculture in China is relatively fast, and its area and total output are among the top in the world. However, the endogenous quality still needs 

to be further improved, and the facility horticulture industry has problems such as low production efficiency and low levels of informatization and mechanization. To promote the 

innovative development of smart facility horticulture technology and equipment in China, we need to combine precise perception, on-demand regulation, and intelligent 

equipment under the guidance of goals such as developing agricultural modernization and improving facility agriculture, gradually realizing networked perception, intelligent 

control, precise operation, and online service. Global smart facility horticulture is constantly developing, and new generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence 

will be widely applied. The facility horticulture industry will achieve full chain empowerment.

2. Intelligent seedling cultivation

The seedling base utilizes advanced breeding and intelligent technologies to cultivate over 10 million vegetable seedlings annually, promoting the modernization and 

standardization of the tomato industry and enhancing its competitiveness. This intelligent seedling cultivation method has allowed growers to taste the sweetness of facility 

agriculture.

In the experimental greenhouse of Mingwei Agriculture Co., Ltd. in Dengta City, Liaoyang, red, orange, yellow, and green tomatoes are growing well. The technical personnel of 

Shanghai Huihe Seed Industry Co., Ltd. are busy every day conducting maturity tests on tomato varieties. Liu Jinlong is from Qiangezhenpao Village, Ximafeng Town, Dengta 

City. In 2017, he returned to his hometown to start a business and established Mingwei Agriculture Co., Ltd. with an investment of 6 million yuan. He transferred 90 acres of land 

in Houge Zhenpao Village and built a seedling base with 18 seedling greenhouses. He specializes in cultivating sterile seedlings and vegetables such as eggplant, cucumber, 

tomato, chili, organic cauliflower, celery, etc., driving more than 5000 farmers in the surrounding area to plant 10000 acres of vegetables. The company has achieved year-round 

seedling cultivation, all sold in the form of orders.

3. Digital infrastructure agriculture and industry ecological construction

Industrial elements represented by digital technology have entered the agricultural field, endowing agricultural industrialization with distinct characteristics of the times. The basic 

direction of agricultural industrialization is led by the digital economy, and more attention is paid to the application of digital technology in production, expanding the scope of 

digital technology application; Pay more attention to the balanced development of digitalization in regions and overcome the 'digital divide' between regions; Pay more attention 

to the leading role of enterprises in the development of the digital economy, and form a good situation of mutual benefit, sharing and win-win between farmers and enterprises; 

Pay more attention to strengthening the training of farmers' digital literacy and skills, enhance their digital literacy, and enable them to fully enjoy the development dividends of the 

digital age.

The overall idea for promoting the innovative development of smart facility horticulture technology and equipment in China is to combine precise perception, on-demand 

regulation, and intelligent equipment under the guidance of the goals of developing agricultural modernization and improving facility agriculture, gradually realizing networked 

perception, intelligent control, precise operation, and online service.

4. Intelligent development of facility agriculture equipment

The types and structural forms of greenhouses have also undergone significant development. Greenhouses can be divided into productive greenhouses, experimental 

(educational) greenhouses, and commercial greenhouses that allow public access based on their functional use; According to architectural design and layout, it can be divided 

into single slope greenhouse, double slope greenhouse, single building greenhouse, and multi building greenhouse; According to the main structural materials, greenhouses can 

be divided into metal structured greenhouses and non-metal structured greenhouses; According to the type of covering material, it can be divided into thin-film greenhouses and 

hard covering material greenhouses.

In terms of greenhouse performance, transparency and insulation are two important evaluation indicators. Transmittance is the most basic indicator for evaluating the 

transparency performance of a greenhouse, which refers to the percentage of light entering the greenhouse compared to the outdoor light. The insulation ratio is an indicator for 

measuring the insulation performance of a greenhouse, which refers to the ratio of the heat transfer coefficient of the greenhouse enclosure structure to the heating load. 

Generally speaking, the light transmittance of glass greenhouses is between 60% and 70%, that of multi span plastic greenhouses is between 50% and 60%, and that of solar 

greenhouses can reach over 70%; The insulation performance of solar greenhouses is much better than other greenhouses.

At present, the development of intelligent level of facility agricultural equipment has achieved gratifying results, especially in the application of many technologies based on the 

Internet, big data and cloud computing. The intelligent development of facility agricultural equipment in China is basically on the same starting line with other countries. Advanced 

technologies such as high-precision navigation, machine vision analysis, AI deep learning, and flexible robotic arms commonly used in industrial manufacturing have also been 

widely introduced into facility agriculture equipment. Intelligent equipment is gradually playing an important role in high-precision operations such as transplanting, grafting, leaf 

cutting, pollination, and harvesting.

Challenges and opportunities in the trend of intelligent facility agriculture in China

The main varieties of facility agriculture are vegetables, flowers, and Chinese herbal medicines, with facility vegetables accounting for nearly 80%. In recent years, the area of 

fruits, vegetables, and flowers has grown rapidly. The development of facility agriculture has not only become an important support for ensuring the supply of fruits and vegetables

in China, but also an important way to continuously improve the level of agricultural modernization, adjust agricultural structure, and promote farmers' income growth. However, 

there are still problems in the development of facility agriculture in China, such as relatively extensive management, large labor demand, and low resource utilization efficiency. 

According to statistics from 2019, the mechanization level of facility agriculture in China is less than 40%, which is in the primary stage of agricultural mechanization. Moreover, 

the mechanization development in various links is uneven, and there is huge space to further improve the mechanization level of facility agriculture.

1. The new trend of intelligent development of facility agriculture in China

1) Core technological innovation of intelligent facility agriculture

The development speed of facility agriculture in China is relatively fast, and its area and total output are among the top in the world. However, the endogenous quality still needs 

to be further improved, and the facility horticulture industry has problems such as low production efficiency and low levels of informatization and mechanization. Therefore, to 

promote the innovative development of smart facility horticulture technology and equipment in China, we need to combine precise perception, on-demand regulation, and 

intelligent equipment under the guidance of goals such as developing agricultural modernization and improving facility agriculture, gradually realizing networked perception, 

intelligent control, precise operation, and online service. Global smart facility horticulture is constantly developing, and new generation information technologies such as artificial 

intelligence will be widely applied. The facility horticulture industry will achieve full chain empowerment.

2) Enhance the intelligence level of facility agriculture

The intellectualization of facility agriculture in China focuses on operation status monitoring, fault warning and walking navigation, and the application of modern science and 

technology such as the Internet of Things, big data, Internet, cloud computing continues to deepen. For example, the proportion of old facilities is high, the degree of 

mechanization is low, and the aging of employees is severe, resulting in high production labor costs and reduced comparative efficiency, directly restricting the high-quality 

development of the industry. To this end, in the future, we need to promote the transformation of the industry towards "more standardized construction, more suitable cultivation, 

greener production, more labor-saving, smarter regulation, and more efficient management" by developing core technologies of intelligent facility horticulture characterized 

by "data-driven, intelligent decision-making, and precise execution".

3) Promote intelligent agricultural machinery

There is still a certain gap in the development level of intelligent agricultural machinery in China compared to developed Western countries, but after years of development, 

China's agricultural machinery product output has ranked first in the world. At present, the types of intelligent agricultural machinery in China have increased, and the degree of 

intelligence has been improved. The two fields with rapid development of mechanical intelligence are fertilization and sowing, and grain combine harvesters. In the future, the 

promotion and application of intelligent agricultural machinery will become an important trend in the intelligent development of facility agriculture in China.

4) Promote the integrated development of facility agriculture, ecological resource protection, and rural characteristic industries

Facility agriculture will develop towards scale, intensification, and modernization. With the improvement of facility agriculture technology and the continuous expansion of 

production scale, facility agriculture will gradually move towards scale, intensification, and modernization. Standardized, intensive, and modernized facility agriculture will further 

improve production efficiency and benefits, reduce production costs, and enhance market competitiveness. At the same time, facility agriculture will focus on exploring the diverse 

value of facility agriculture, leveraging its multifunctionality, promoting the integrated development of facility agriculture with ecological resource protection, rural characteristic 

industries, agricultural leisure tourism, rural new energy industries, and characteristic town construction, and achieving the maximization, optimization, and sustainability of facility 

agriculture benefits.

2. The Problems of Intelligent Facility Agriculture in China

1) Insufficient total quantity and low quality

Although the construction of facility agriculture in China has achieved significant results and played a positive role in ensuring the effective supply of agricultural products and 

promoting agricultural income growth, it still faces challenges of insufficient quantity and low quality. This indicates that we may not have fully met market demand in the process 

of facility agriculture intelligence, or our level of facility agriculture intelligence technology still needs to be improved.

2) Low production efficiency and low level of informatization and mechanization

The facility horticulture industry has problems such as low production efficiency and low levels of informatization and mechanization. These issues may hinder the further 

development of facility agriculture intelligence, as low production efficiency may lead to a decrease in investor interest in the field; The low level of informatization and 

mechanization may affect the application and popularization of intelligent technology in facility agriculture.

3) Difficulties in fundraising and risk protection

Facility agriculture requires a large one-time investment and carries high risks in the early stages, which cannot be separated from the strong guarantee of financial insurance. 

However, the current problem is the difficulty and high cost of financing, which limits the speed and scale of the development of facility agriculture intelligence.

4) Insufficient technological innovation and application

Although the intelligentization of facility agriculture is the future development trend, we still need to combine precise perception, on-demand regulation, and intelligent equipment 

under the guidance of goals such as developing agricultural modernization and improving facility agriculture, gradually realizing networked perception, intelligent control, precise 

operation, and online service. This indicates that we may still have shortcomings in technological innovation and application, and need to further strengthen them.

5) Quality issues of employees

Wei Xiaoming, a researcher at the Intelligent Equipment Technology Research Center of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, pointed out that the problems of 

high proportion of old facilities, low mechanization level, and serious aging of employees in the facility horticulture industry have led to high production and labor costs, reduced 

comparative benefits, and directly hindered the high-quality development of the industry.

3. Prediction of the Market Prospects for Intelligent Facility Agriculture in China

1) Market demand forecast

With the development of intelligent facility agriculture in China, market demand is bound to be strong. Therefore, promoting intelligent production in facility agriculture, realizing 

networked perception, intelligent control, precise operation, and online service, will have particularly important development significance. It is not only an important direction for 

the development of facility agriculture in China, but also a rare development opportunity for the agricultural equipment industry. Integrating mature technologies and providing 

intelligent solutions for facility agriculture will become popular, enabling producers and equipment manufacturers to earn substantial profits.

2) Market size forecast

According to forward-looking predictions, the market size of smart agriculture in China is expected to maintain a medium to high speed of development. Based on a compound 

annual growth rate of 10%, it is estimated that by 2027, the market size of smart agriculture in China is expected to exceed 120 billion yuan. This indicates that China's facility 

agriculture intelligent market has enormous development potential and broad market prospects.

3) Investment risk assessment

Although the market prospects for intelligent facility agriculture in China are broad, investment risks cannot be ignored. Facility agriculture requires a large one-time investment 

and carries high risks in the early stages, which cannot be separated from the strong guarantee of financial insurance. In addition, the high proportion of old facilities, incomplete 

technological innovation, and weak industrial chains in the field of facility planting are also factors that investors need to consider.

4) Industry market prospects

The modern facility agriculture industry is facing broad development prospects. With the continuous advancement and application of technology, modern facility agriculture plays 

an increasingly important role in various aspects of agricultural production. By adopting advanced technological means such as sensors, the Internet of Things, data analysis, etc.

 precise fertilization, automatic irrigation, intelligent management, etc. can be achieved, thereby improving the yield and quality of agricultural products, reducing resource 

consumption and environmental pollution, and enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production, which will be the winning weapon.

5) Policy support

In order to promote the modernization of agriculture, governments around the world have introduced policies and measures to support the development of modern facility 

agriculture. These policies include fiscal subsidies, tax incentives, land policy adjustments, etc., aimed at encouraging farmers and enterprises to invest in modern facility 

agriculture and enhancing the competitiveness of the agricultural industry chain. In China, the government has introduced a series of supportive policies to promote the 

modernization and intelligent development of agriculture.

In summary, the intelligent market for facility agriculture in China has broad prospects, but it also comes with certain investment risks. With the advancement of technology and 

policy support, it is believed that the intelligent market for facility agriculture in China will experience greater development.

Policy Suggestions for Accelerating the Intelligent Development of Facility Agriculture in China

1. Enhance the technological level of intelligent equipment for facility agriculture

The mechanization level of facility agriculture in our country is less than 40%, which belongs to the primary stage of agricultural mechanization, and the development of 

mechanization in various links is uneven. Therefore, improving the technological level of intelligent equipment in facility agriculture is the key to accelerating the development of 

intelligent facility agriculture in China. This includes developing sensors, collectors, and controllers that are suitable for China's national conditions, promoting the intelligent 

transformation of traditional facilities and equipment, improving the intelligence level of field planting, variety regional testing and seed production, facility agriculture, livestock 

and poultry, and aquaculture facilities and equipment. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the joint research and development of scientific research institutions and 

equipment manufacturing enterprises, further improve the localization level of bulk crop machinery, accelerate the research and development of economic crops, animal 

husbandry, hilly and mountainous agricultural machinery, and develop high-end agricultural machinery and equipment manufacturing.

2. Strengthening the informatization construction of facility agriculture

Information technology construction is an important means to enhance the intelligence level of facility agriculture. We should accelerate the application of information technology 

and equipment, strengthen the development and application of growth knowledge models, threshold data, and knowledge base systems for greenhouse crops by variety, and 

continuously optimize the optimal production control plan for crops. At the same time, attention should be paid to exploring the diverse value of facility agriculture, leveraging its 

multifunctionality, promoting the integrated development of facility agriculture with ecological resource protection, rural characteristic industries, agricultural leisure tourism, rural 

new energy industries, and characteristic town construction, and achieving the maximization, optimization, and sustainability of facility agriculture benefits.

3. Increase policy support and subsidy intensity

Policy support and subsidy intensity are important driving forces for promoting the intelligent development of facility agriculture. The government should continue to increase its 

support for facility agriculture, including providing policy incentives such as financial subsidies and tax incentives, to encourage farmers and enterprises to invest in intelligent 

equipment and technology research and development for facility agriculture. In addition, it is necessary to improve the financing service platform and use information technology 

to upgrade the financing project library into a comprehensive financing service platform that integrates policy promotion, product release, enterprise portrait, matching and 

docking, financing counseling, scene construction, loan interest subsidies, ecosystem construction and other functions.

4. Strengthen talent cultivation and introduction

The development of intelligence cannot be separated from the support of talents. We should accelerate the cultivation of high-tech talents in facility agriculture, especially 

strengthen the training of farmers' digital literacy and skills, enhance farmers' digital literacy, and enable farmers to fully enjoy the development dividends of the digital age. At the 

same time, we should actively introduce professional talents from both domestic and foreign sources to provide strong talent support for the intelligent development of facility 

agriculture.

5. Promote facility agriculture regional radiation

The facility agriculture regions in our country will radiate from the current North China, Northeast China, and coastal areas to the northwest region and some underdeveloped 

areas. The government should increase its support for these regions, provide necessary funding, technology and other assistance, and promote the rapid development of facility 

agriculture intelligence in these areas.

Source: Agricultural Machinery News Network

Author: Hanzhong Woodcutter