Located in the core area of the Sanjiang Plain in Heilongjiang province, Baoqing county is a major rice-producing site with an arable land area of 507,000 hectares.

In recent years, the county has actively embraced internet technology in agricultural production and constructed an "internet plus agriculture" base spanning 8,000 hectares.

Hongqiling Farm, spanning Baoqing and neighboring Raohe county, is at the forefront of this agricultural strategy.

With the aim of achieving sustainable development and increasing its yield, Hongqiling implemented a set of technologies to form an agricultural internet of things platform.

With an investment of over 8 million yuan ($1.12 million), the IoT platform has seamlessly integrated the entire agricultural production process of over 667 hectares of paddy fields with the internet.

The platform combines various agricultural technologies, providing automated data on the rice growth process. By analyzing and processing the data, the platform generates reports that support management of these paddy fields and ensure safe production, thereby guiding the agricultural production activities.

Through a traceability system, the entire production process of agricultural products can be monitored, ensuring product safety and reliability, according to a report by China Food News in September.

Besides setting up the internet plus agriculture bases, Baoqing has also sought help from agricultural professionals to tackle the difficulties farmers have encountered during cultivation so as to promote the quality development of agriculture and increase income for farmers.

In early September, the Northern Rice Research Center of the China National Rice Research Institute, a national-level rice technology innovation platform, was established in Baoqing to address major common issues in rice production in northern China, such as rice blast disease, cold damage and lodging, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wu Kongming, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the center is going to be forged into a comprehensive research and innovation institute integrating industry, academia and research in rice to better serve local socioeconomic development, and to fuel rural vitalization.

Moreover, Baoqing has also taken steps to enhance agricultural infrastructure and has picked up the pace in terms of building renowned brands with its agricultural products. The county now has 14,330 hectares dedicated to the building of green food bases.