pjbooks Chapter 135 The Blue Ocean of Agriculture
Chapter 135 The Blue Ocean of Agriculture
The large farm in Mincheng is located on the outskirts of the city, and it takes forty minutes to drive there from the city center.
Han Lu flipped through the materials she had prepared before the meeting in the passenger seat. The company was called Fengyuan Agriculture, which mainly engaged in the large-scale planting of grains and vegetables. It managed nearly 30,000 mu of agricultural land and was one of the largest agricultural enterprises in Mincheng.
The person in charge of receiving them was the head of the agricultural company, surnamed Li, who was in his early sixties and had been working on this land for more than twenty years. His skin was tanned a dark red, and he spoke frankly.
He led Zuo Cheng and Han Lu on a walk around the field, and pointed to the large expanse of vegetables in front of them and said something.
"I've been spraying pesticides by tractor and by hand for twenty years, and the annual yield is always the same. What difference could your drones possibly make?"
Zuo Cheng didn't rush to talk about the technical parameters; instead, he asked him a question first.
"Mr. Li, how much manpower does it typically take you to administer one dose of medication?"
Old Li counted on his fingers, said a number, and added that during peak season, it's hard to find workers, and sometimes you have to pay extra.
Zuo Cheng nodded.
"Let me break it down for you. The overall cost of spraying pesticides per acre each time you use drones can be reduced by 30%, and the amount of pesticide used can also be reduced by 30%, while the effective coverage rate is actually higher, because the uniformity of drone spraying is much better than manual spraying."
Old Li didn't answer immediately. He kicked a clod of earth on the edge of the field, his face showing the expression of someone who was used to bragging to others.
"Everyone who comes to sell says these things."
"So we won't say it, we'll show you."
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The pilot program was finalized quickly: a 200-acre control area was designated, with half of it using Lao Li's original manual methods and the other half using 402's drones for precision plant protection. The program lasted three weeks, with data on pesticide application, operation time, coverage uniformity, and final crop growth status recorded throughout.
Zuo Cheng made a trip to the fields, allowing Shen Yiming's algorithm team to collect terrain and crop distribution data in advance, plan the drone's flight path, and conduct special parameter adjustments for the density and row spacing of this vegetable field.
After confirming the pilot program, he turned around and casually brought up the system panel in his mind.
The radar's cooldown period has ended, and it can start scanning. He looked around and saw a young man standing next to Old Li. This young man was Fengyuan's technical director and seemed to have some knowledge of drone agriculture. He had just asked a few questions, mentioning the combination of precision spraying and soil testing, indicating that he had some basic knowledge.
Zuo Cheng activated his technological radar in his mind and scanned the technical director.
The results were displayed within seconds: This person has mastered basic soil sensor data acquisition technology and some experience in adjusting flight control parameters of agricultural drones, but the depth is not enough, and the value of copying is disproportionate to the consumption of points. Zuo Cheng will not move for the time being.
He closed the panel; his score remained unchanged at 252.
The scan didn't trigger replication, but it gave him more ideas about agricultural sensors. Precision agriculture isn't just about aerial spraying; it also includes soil testing, multispectral imaging, and crop health diagnosis. Accumulating this data will drive subsequent leaf unlocking.
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Three weeks later, the data was released.
The average pesticide usage per acre was reduced by 28% in the drone-operated area, while the effective coverage rate was 19 percentage points higher than that in the manual operation area. In terms of crop growth, the drone-operated area showed a clear advantage, with the incidence of leaf spot diseases in vegetables being nearly half that of the control area. In terms of efficiency, drones can treat 1,000 acres per day, while a manual team of the same size would need four days to treat the same area.
Shen Yiming compiled the data into a report and sent it to Zuo Cheng overnight, adding a note: "The plant protection effect far exceeded expectations. It is recommended to develop a multispectral imaging module to cooperate with drones for crop health diagnosis. This data accumulation is very valuable."
Zuo Cheng saw this line and made a mental note: multispectral imaging is the next direction.
Old Li stood at the edge of the field, staring at the data for a long time without saying a word. The technical supervisor next to him whispered, "Mr. Li, this data is much better than our manual work, and the money saved on medicine in one season is enough to buy a new machine."
Old Li turned around and looked at Zuo Cheng.
"I have a question. If your drones malfunction, who will be responsible? Equipment damage is one thing, but what about crop loss?"
"We provide full-service operation and maintenance, with a 24-hour response time for equipment malfunctions, full monitoring of operations, and data archiving. If crop losses are caused by equipment problems, we will compensate at market price, all written into the contract," said Zuo Cheng. "We haven't had a single major accident in the logistics sector in a year, and we can make the same commitment in the agricultural sector."
Old Li was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone had changed.
"Can you serve three agricultural companies simultaneously?"
Han Lu quickly chimed in from the side.
"Yes, we have already established a dedicated operations team in the agricultural sector, with standardized operating procedures, so operating multiple bases simultaneously is not a problem."
Old Li nodded, put his teacup on the stone table, and turned to his technical supervisor, saying, "Bring me the contract template."
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There was no press conference for the signing ceremony. It was just Lao Li and Zuo Cheng signing their names in his small office, which had an old lunar calendar hanging on the wall.
The first strategic cooperation between three agricultural companies covers nearly 80,000 mu of agricultural land, and the annual service fee for plant protection drones is expected to exceed 12 million yuan.
On the way back, Han Lu did some calculations. The market size of agricultural plant protection is five times that of logistics, and the demand is continuous, with a plant protection cycle every quarter, unlike logistics which has peak and off-peak seasons.
"I think agriculture is something worth vigorously promoting going forward," she said. "This isn't a market where you just take a contract and leave; it requires in-depth operation."
Zuo Cheng leaned against the car window, watching the farmland outside Mincheng flash by. In the endless green, several drones were operating at low altitude, the sprayed pesticide mist dispersing into a thin layer of white in the sunlight.
He thought of the system data: five to eight, three blades were still needed.
Environmental perception data accumulated in agricultural scenarios is one of the key paths to unlocking leaf technology. The value of precision agriculture goes far beyond a simple contract.
"Keep pushing forward," he said. "Next month, we'll find three more companies. The goal is to cover three provinces with agricultural operations by the end of the year and establish standardized procedures."
Han Lu wrote it down in her notebook and turned to the next page.
Outside the car window, the farmland of Mincheng slowly receded behind us, stretching as far as the eye could see, one patch of green after another, forming an endless line in the evening light.