China Is Accelerating the Intelligentization of Livestock and Aquaculture Equipment

Recently, a representative of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated that currently, China's livestock industry is accelerating its transformation towards standardized large-scale farming, while the aquaculture industry is accelerating its transition towards green and efficient practices. The equipment for livestock and aquaculture is gradually moving towards intelligentization and greening.

Relevant data shows that in recent years, the total amount of livestock and aquaculture facilities and equipment in China has continued to grow, and the mechanization level has continuously improved, presenting a stable and rapidly developing trend. In 2022, the national livestock farming machinery stock reached 9.0743 million units, an increase of 4.32% year-on-year, while the stock of aquaculture machinery reached 5.0898 million units, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year. The utilization of livestock manure resources has achieved full coverage in all major livestock farming counties across the country, with a comprehensive utilization rate of 78%, and the matching rate of manure treatment facilities and equipment in large-scale farms has stabilized at above 97%.

In recent years, China has continuously improved the mechanization technology system for farming, initially forming a technical standard system for the configuration of large-scale farming equipment covering pig farms, hatcheries, chicken farms, beef cattle farms, and mutton sheep farms, providing important references for equipping farms with related mechanical equipment.

At the same time, the evaluation standards for the mechanization level of aquaculture have been reviewed and approved. Efforts to promote intelligent farming equipment technology have been continuously strengthened, focusing on major livestock and aquatic products such as pigs, laying hens, broilers, dairy cows, beef cattle, lake sheep, and aquaculture. An intelligent equipment library for smart farming has been established to promote and release a batch of smart farming intelligent equipment technologies, such as precise feeding, intelligent inspection, intelligent environmental control, intelligent sorting, intelligent packaging, and intelligent management, continuously meeting the practical needs of large-scale farms.

Liu Hengxin, director of the General Station of Agricultural Mechanization under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that with the transformation of the industry, it is necessary to vigorously develop intelligent farming, focusing on large-scale farms, using modern information technology and equipment to comprehensively transform and upgrade traditional farming, achieving precise regulation, precise operations, and precise management, thus significantly improving labor productivity, resource utilization, and land output rates, reducing resource consumption, lowering carbon emissions, and accelerating the transformation of traditional farming towards resource-saving and environmentally friendly modern farming.

"The task of mechanizing China's farming remains arduous," Liu Hengxin said. The next step is to promote green, efficient, and intelligent farming machinery and equipment, accelerate the revision of existing promotion appraisal guidelines, add requirements related to intelligence, and enhance the experimental appraisal capabilities for livestock and aquaculture machinery and equipment.