Shanghai unveils plan to transform suburbs through unmanned farms with drone-grown crops

Shanghai has proposed turning a portion of its suburbs into unmanned farms, part of China’s efforts to increase agricultural efficiency

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Shanghai has unveiled a plan to build unmanned farms in its suburbs, made possible by new technologies like agricultural drones. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00am, 14 Aug 2024Updated: 11:45am, 14 Aug 2024

Shanghai – China’s largest city and its financial capital – has unveiled an ambitious plan to leverage new technologies to transform large swathes of its suburbs into unmanned grain-producing farms, a local experiment in line with the country’s push to modernise agriculture as it pursues greater food security.

The metropolis will attempt to establish 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) of fully automated farmland – roughly four times the size of New York City’s Central Park – by the end of next year, according to a plan released on Monday by the government of the city's Pudong district.

Automated farms – areas of agricultural production involving no human labour – are generating more interest as China seeks methods to improve efficiency to make up for issues of farmland quality and volume. These facilities purport to eliminate the human factor by utilising advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data and robotics.

Shanghai's plan would begin with 12,000 mu of smart farms across eight townships by the end of the year, and fulfil the remainder of the goal by the end of 2025.

Unmanned farms would be equipped with intelligent tractors, planting machines, smart sprayers, drones and combine harvesters, the city said. A central cloud platform would manage and analyse data to maintain operations.

Successful projects, after passing assessment, will receive a reward of 700,000 yuan (US$97,522) per 1,000 mu from the municipal government, and would be eligible for an additional reward from the district up to the same amount.

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