An unmanned tractor harvests crops in Liuqiao town in Tongzhou district, Nantong on Nov 10. [Photo/ntjoy.com]

Intelligent and automated farming is the future of modern agriculture. Thus, an automated harvest was carried out at a farm in Liuqiao town in Tongzhou district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province on Nov 10.

The Jiangyi grain planting cooperative, established in June 2019, has a total land area of around 64 hectares, about 13 ha of which were used to build an automated farm, according to Shuai Bin, secretary of the Party branch of Jiangyi village in Liuqiao town.

Crop growing and harvesting at the cooperative has transformed from an outsourcing model to an automated operation model. "We started adopting smart technologies this year, which has saved us 1,500-3,000 yuan ($235-$470) per hectare of land," said Shuai.

So far, Nantong has built three unmanned farms in Tongzhou and Haimen districts, achieving full automation in ploughing, seeding, plant protection and harvesting.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Nantong will create more automated farms in its administrative divisions and roll out corresponding subsidy policies, according to Xiao Ying, director of the Nantong agricultural mechanization technology promotion center.