During the summer harvest season, the smart farm in Hezhuang Village, Maoshan Town, Jurong City, Jiangsu Province, welcomed a bountiful wheat harvest. (Photo by Dai Xianing)
An unmanned combine harvester operates at the smart farm in Hezhuang Village. (Photo by Yuan Lei)
During the “Three Summers” period, the smart farm in Hezhuang Village, Maoshan Town, Jurong City, Jiangsu Province, was adorned with golden wheat waves rolling across the hills under blue skies and white clouds. Three crawler combine harvesters shuttled through the fields.
“Chug, chug, chug—” The harvester’s header opened its two-meter-wide “teeth,” capable of “chewing” eight kilograms of wheat ears per second. The roller-type thresher on the machine promptly separated the grains from the ears, while two internal fans worked simultaneously to swallow the plump grains into a two-meter-long, one-meter-deep “belly.” Meanwhile, the lightweight husks and straw were blown away, crushed, and gently ejected from a cylindrical outlet at the rear, transforming into field fertilizer.
“This is a smart farm, and all three of these are unmanned combine harvesters,” said Xia Hongyu, general manager of Jurong Chuntian Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd., which oversees the summer harvest on this farm. As he led the reporter closer for inspection, the driver’s cabin was notably absent of an operator—instead, it was equipped with a screen. On the screen, the 1,350-acre wheat field was clearly divided into 24 plots, each with defined boundaries, allowing the harvesters to follow pre-set routes to complete their tasks.
Why build a smart farm? And why use unmanned combine harvesters?
Wu Yayun, head of the Agricultural Machinery Section at Jurong Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, explained that the Maoshan area of Jurong is characterized by hilly terrain with significant elevation differences. High areas struggle to retain water, while low-lying areas are prone to flooding, making manual labor challenging. Grain yields here are only about half of those in plains areas, dampening farmers’ enthusiasm for cultivation. To address the issues of “who will farm the land” and “how to farm the land,” the locality introduced Jurong Chuntian Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. in 2023 to build a smart farm and achieve “machines replacing people” through full automation.
Were there ready-made harvesters that fully met the requirements? “Take these unmanned harvesters, for example. We purchased crawler harvesters with strong climbing capabilities, equipped with automatic leveling and in-place turning functions to adapt to hilly terrain,” Xia Hongyu explained. However, this was far from sufficient—the harvesters required a series of modifications after purchase.
How do the unmanned harvesters work? Xia Hongyu noted that the company developed an app to plan routes on the application end. The control system on the harvesters receives operational commands and then drives the steering wheel and control levers to set the machines in motion.
These intelligent unmanned harvesters can even assess their own performance. On top of the machines, three mushroom-shaped antennas enable real-time positioning via the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. The bodies are equipped with five cameras to monitor the surroundings and trigger emergency stops in case of accidents. Additionally, pressure sensors on the headers and grain tanks accurately detect and judge capacity, determining whether the tanks are full. Once full, the positioning system automatically aligns with the truck compartment and adjusts the angle for automated grain unloading.
What do advanced agricultural machines bring to farming? Xia Hongyu did the math: Compared to traditional manually operated harvesters, unmanned ones show no significant advantage in absolute speed but excel in operating 24/7. At full capacity, they can harvest about 200 acres per day, improving efficiency by over 70% compared to traditional eight-hour manual operations. Moreover, they avoid crushing seedlings, missing areas, or scattering grain during turns, reducing harvest losses by at least 50%. They also save two-thirds of labor costs—previously, three harvesters required three operators, but now one person can manage them simultaneously.
With improved efficiency, saved time can be used to take on more orders. Xia Hongyu mentioned that unmanned harvesters have become highly sought-after, freeing up more time each year to provide harvesting services in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, and other regions.
Unmanned harvesters are part of the smart farm’s automated operations. Through high-standard farmland construction and AI-powered scientific management, the farm can automatically identify pests and crop growth, monitor machinery operation quality, and more, helping increase wheat yield from 500 jin per mu to over 1,000 jin while significantly expanding effective planting area. Combined with saved labor costs and increased income from cross-regional operations, the initial investment is expected to be recouped within four years.
“As modern farmers, we no longer have to ‘steam in a sauna’ in the fields on hot days. We can complete the summer harvest remotely from air-conditioned rooms,” said Luo Zhiyao, an employee of Jurong Chuntian Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. This, he said, is the greatest sense of fulfillment that advanced agricultural machinery has brought him
Post time: 09-15-2025
