Smart Plant Factory Opens for Business

On January 5, 2023, the first digital agriculture project of Zibo Agricultural Development Group in Shandong Province, led by intelligent plant factories, was harvested in Guli Town, Huantai County, successfully producing the first crop of organic tomatoes. The project was officially launched in July 2021, so far the intelligent plant factory 1# greenhouse has been completed and put into operation, managed and operated by Kaisheng Haofeng Agriculture Co., Ltd. with a maximum daily output of more than 20 tons of tomatoes. 2-6# greenhouses will be completed within this year, and it is expected that after all of them are put into operation, the annual output of tomatoes will be 30,000 tons, with the output value of 600 million yuan, creating more than 800 jobs.

What is a smart plant factory?

Smart plant factory, that is, without soil, pesticide, not affected by the natural environment, through digital control of the light, temperature, nutrition and other elements required by plants, under complete factory conditions to produce plants, represents the future development direction of agriculture. 

Five breakthroughs in smart plant factories:

1. 400% increase in production over traditional greenhouse

Realize year-round, all-weather production

A single greenhouse is equipped with 423 sensors and 1,165 controllers. The data related to temperature, light, water and fertilizer, air, etc. inside the plant factory are collected and intelligently adjusted at any time to provide the best growing environment for plants 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Improve land utilization

The plant factory adopts multi-layered, three-dimensional, soil-less cultivation technology to open up the planting space. Compared with traditional planting methods, the plant yield is greatly improved in the same are, and there is no pollution of the soil environment.

2. Digital management rate of 90%

The intelligent plant factory has five intelligent control systems, and a cell phone can realize the easy management of hundreds of acres of plant factories.

First, the BPM system creates the driving process management. Second is the ERP system, which realizes the automatic production management of the farm. Third is the MES system, which realizes the collaboration of intelligent control. Fourth is the scheduling and dispatching system for farm labor. Fifth is the WMS system for finished product storage management, which realizes the synergy of integration. The whole technology farm is 90% digitally managed.

3. The whole chain of data control from “seed to table”

Upstream data guide seed selection

The production plan is determined according to market demand, turning the traditional agricultural production mode into an industrialized order production mode. The rate of product removal rate can reach 99.7%.

Data analysis to guide production operations

Data BI is used to make prediction judgments and guide harvesting operations with an accuracy rate of over 90%.

PDA full intelligent harvesting

AGV intelligent robot, through image analysis and data processing, realizes intelligent harvesting and improves manual efficiency by 50%.

Fully intelligent integrated packaging line

Fully automatic sorting and packaging, freeing up 90% of manpower while achieving 100% real-time input and output management.

Single code warehousing mechanism

Combine with market orders to arrange outbound delivery and trace the origin of each box of tomatoes in real-time.

4. Save 60% on energy costs

Thin-film solar power generation

Introduce the world's advanced thin-film solar power generation glass, which is applied to many scenes such as the roof and wall of the park to reduce the energy consumption of production and operation.

Modern industrial carbon replenishment and purification

Adopting modern industrial carbon replenishment and purification technology, together with municipal heating, to realize green low-carbon cycle development, which can effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40% and save energy costs by 60%.

5. Product "Four Zero" standard

Zero pollution

The plant factory has introduced the Dutch Venlo type closed glass wisdom greenhouse technology, personnel must wear sterile suits and go through the air shower equipment before entering the greenhouse. Ensure "zero contamination" of the products.

Zero hormone

Adopt Belgian bumblebee pollination technology, biological environmental protection, to ensure "zero hormone" products.

Zero pesticide residue

Soilless rockwool cultivation and biological pest control technology are applied to ensure "zero pesticide residue".

Zero ripening

The plant factory has the best growing environment for 24 hours and naturally increase the growth rate of plants to ensure "zero ripening".