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China’s tobacco farmers are enjoying the benefits of smart production.
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Workers checking the digital seedling greenhouse.
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Smart drip irrigation equipment is deployed in tobacco fields.
For years, tobacco-growing regions in China have enthusiastically adopted digitization, utilizing technologies like 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data to drive innovation in tobacco production. This not only transformed traditional agricultural production methods, making tobacco cultivation more efficient and scientific, but also enabled tobacco farmers to enjoy the benefits and convenience brought by smart production. This shift from relying on experience-based methods to data-drive approaches is empowered by new technologies and models.
Creating an electronic map of a tobacco field’s facilities
The foundation of digital transformation in tobacco farming is data. In recent years, various digital technologies such as satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing, AI, and model algorithms have been deployed across tobacco-growing areas to automatically map tobacco fields, calculate field areas, accelerate the collection and integration of electronic map data and information of tobacco fields, and finally creating electronic maps that detail tobacco production data.
In Zhucheng, Shandong province, an integrated tobacco intelligent remote sensing system was installed to comprehensively enhance the development of “visible tobacco-growing areas” and further connect the data chain across the entire tobacco production process. In Dali, Yunnan province, a five-tier grid management system of “province-state-county station-district” was set up. This system, in conjunction with digital transformation initiatives, enables dynamic management of production processes.
Building an intelligent seedling greenhouse
As the saying goes, “Good seedlings are the foundation of a high-yield crop field.” The key to effective seedling management lies in controlling the greenhouse’s temperature and humidity.
In the past, during the critical period of seedling cultivation, tobacco farmers frequently visited the greenhouse to manually record temperature readings throughout the day. However, with the installation of an online temperature and humidity monitoring device, all operations are now data-driven. The Hezhou tobacco-growing area in Guangxi province actively promotes this online monitoring system for seedling greenhouses, allowing for precise adjustments of temperature and humidity. This advancement not only ensures a high survival rate of tobacco seedlings but also achieves “zero record” in virus detection. The seedling greenhouses have been transformed into intelligent facilities, relying on data instead of empirical judgment, making seedling cultivation more professional, management more refined, and quality more assured.
In Xintian County, Hunan Province, each seedling green-house is equipped with a GPS-8G remote temperature and humidity monitoring instrument. Technical personnel and seed-ling workers can monitor the greenhouse conditions in real-time through a mobile app and video monitoring equipment installed within the greenhouses. Technologies such as sunlight monitoring, temperature and humidity monitoring, overtemperature and low-temperature alarms, and data recording and analysis are employed to ensure optimal management of tobacco seedling cultivation. This digitalization has significantly improved work efficiency and the quality of tobacco seedlings. As a result, the quality seedlings in the county reached over 90% in 46,200 mu (1 mu = 666.7 sq.km) of tobacco seedlings this year.
New tools enable field management
Cameras, sensors, detectors, and drones—these “new farming tools” act like eyes and ears, capturing every subtle change in the tobacco fields. The influx of data and the implementation of more scientific field management practices provide strong support for the healthy growth of tobacco plants.
In the Linyi tobacco-growing area of Shandong province, intelligent equipment like pest light-trap monitoring systems and pest-induced monitoring systems have been deployed. These systems enable real-time online monitoring and deep data mining of measurement and field monitoring data to construct predictive models. This approach facilitates macro management and accurate prediction of pests and diseases, effectively controlling large-scale outbreaks of pests such as aphids and tobacco aphids. In the Zhucheng tobacco-growing area of Shandong province, the installation of a “water and fertilizer integration intelligent control system” was implemented. This system enables the integrated and intelligent supply of water and fertilizer, effectively reducing waste of these resources, lowering production costs, and protecting the ecological environment.
A complete water and fertilizer integration intelligent control system for tobacco fields primarily consists of four components: water supply engineering, pressure system, intelligent control system, and field pipeline network. Among these, the intelligent control system is crucial for achieving data-driven monitoring and intelligent supply of water and fertilizer. Equipped with advanced sensors that measure temperature, humidity, light, and conductivity, the system monitors key parameters such as soil moisture, pH value, and salt concentration in real-time. Using intelligent algorithm analysis, it accurately calculates the required amount of water and nutrients for crops, ensuring optimal results for each irrigation and fertilization cycle. This approach prevents resource waste and environmental pollution caused by excessive water and fertilizer supply.
The water and fertilizer integration intelligent control system can be managed in real-time through mobile devices like smartphones. Tobacco farmers can set parameters such as irrigation amount, duration, valve switches, and water-to-fertilizer ratios on their phones, based on the growth characteristics of tobacco leaves and soil moisture conditions. This allows for precise control of automatic water and fertilizer irrigation operations in specific areas of the tobacco field. If abnormalities arise—such as insufficient water sources, fertilizer overconcentration, excessive flow rates, or valve blockages—the system will send alarm notifications to the farmer’s mobile phone, prompting immediate adjustments to address the issues.
“In the past, watering tobacco fields was not only a technical task, but also a physical one. I needed to constantly monitor the moisture content of the tobacco fields, coordinate water sources in advance, deploy pipelines, clear tobacco ridges, and take care of the watering situation day and night. Now, the water and fertilizer integration intelligent device makes a difference. The phone has moisture display and instant reminders. When watering is needed, just click on the phone and a continuous stream of water will be transported along the pipeline to each tobacco plant,” tobacco farmer Bai Junjie said happily.
The Xintian Branch of China Tobacco (Hunan) Commercial Corporation, in collaboration with a tobacco leaf co-operative, is leveraging drone technology for crop protection. Previously, farmers used manual sprayers, which often led to backaches from a day’s work and covered only about 10 mu of land. Now, drones have revolutionized this process, covering 300-400 mu of land per day and achieving over 50 times the efficiency of manual spraying.
Installing a digital curing room
Farmers previously had to stay up late during the curing season, often waking every few hours to check on the process. Now, with an intelligent temperature and humidity controller in the curing room, they can monitor conditions in real-time. This system not only provides constant observation of temperature and humidity but also automatically sends warnings and reminders if key indicators become abnormal, allowing for timely responses and reducing the need for constant manual checks.
The intensive curing room controller introduced in the Ganzhou tobacco-growing area of Jiangxi province features digital temperature sensors, a high-performance microcontroller, and built-in curing curves. This advanced system is adaptable to the curing of various types of tobacco leaves across different regions. It significantly enhances the emergency response capabilities of tobacco farmers during the curing process, leading to improved quality and efficiency in tobacco curing.
Setting up an integrated platform
In recent years, tobacco-growing regions across the country have prioritized the development of integrated platforms to streamline the tobacco production process and advance digital transformation. These platforms enable tobacco farmers, village collectives, cooperatives, lessors, and employees to post information and sign contracts online. This approach addresses challenges such as the difficulty and high cost of hiring workers due to information asymmetry, and the shortage of tobacco fields, equipment, and technology, while also delivering specialized services directly to the fields.
The mobile applet “Jinsha Xiangyun” launched by Panzhihua tobacco-growing area in Sichuan province provides precise services for tobacco farmers. Integrating production materials such as land, labor, agricultural machinery, curing, and technology, it provides “one-stop” online services such as demand declaration, online dispatching, maintenance, and operation training for tobacco farmers. Yang Chunyu, a farmer, booked a drone through the mobile phone to carry out plant protection services in his own tobacco field, and immediately received a notification that the order had been accepted. Subsequently, the drone arrived as scheduled and completed the task of operating 28 mu of tobacco fields in just one hour.
The one-stop service platform for tobacco farmers launched by Jinpeng Tobacco Cooperative in Xingshan County, Hubei Province, is now in trial operation. Zhang Guoli, a local tobacco farmer, praised the platform, stating, “This applet is really simple and convenient to use. You can rent land, hire workers, and even sell specialties on it. More importantly, farmers can consult experts anytime and anywhere through video connections based on their planting situations, gaining valuable knowledge about tobacco cultivation.”