Shanghai\’s Hi-Tech Farming Revolution: A New Agricultural Era
The Rise of Automated Farming in Shanghai
China\’s financial centre and a key manufacturing hub, Shanghai is also making significant strides in achieving its automated farming goals. This transformation is evident in the efforts of individuals like He Yangyang, who has taken a unique approach to modernizing agriculture.
Seven years ago, He Yangyang left his university job in downtown Shanghai to return to his hometown in the Songjiang district. There, he began exploring how digital technology could revolutionize farming. Today, his Tushibao Agricultural Cooperative farm has turned this vision into reality. The farm uses a central control system to manage fully autonomous field operations, including ploughing, planting, managing, and harvesting, all overseen by just a few staff members.
Songjiang, a major grain-producing area for Shanghai, is playing a crucial role in helping the city meet its goal of building 6,666 hectares (16,473 acres) of automated farms by the end of this year. He’s team has already exceeded expectations, developing nearly 133 hectares of automated farmland—mainly used to grow rice—ahead of schedule.
He emphasized that young people today are better educated and enjoy a higher standard of living. They don’t want to farm like their parents or grandparents, with their faces in the dirt and backs under the sun. \”So how do we get them into farming? Automated digital agriculture answers both who will farm the land and how,\” he said.
While Shanghai is known as one of China\’s best-known economic hubs, manufacturing everything from C919 airliners to Tesla electric vehicles, it is less known for its production of rice, watermelons, peaches, and vegetables. However, despite limited farmland and a small farming population, the sprawling city consistently ranks among the leading regions in China in grain yield per hectare.
According to official data, Shanghai\’s grain yield was around 7.54 tonnes per hectare last year, keeping it in second place nationally—just behind the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. From 2017 to 2022, it ranked first.
Shanghai\’s success is based on its tech-driven, moderately scaled, and quality-focused approach to urban farming, according to observers. This model is significant for China, home to 1.4 billion people and perennial food security concerns, offering a template for raising farm efficiency nationwide.
An \”automated farm\” uses technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, 5G telecommunications, and robotics to enable remote and fully automated operations with minimal human intervention.
Shanghai\’s economic strength and the government\’s open-minded support give farmers room to experiment and innovate. He said, \”We\’re confident in our model. If it works here, we can copy it elsewhere.\”
China aims to become a globally competitive \”strong agricultural nation\” by 2035, according to a plan issued by the central government last year. Shanghai is leading the way through technology. The city is aiming to establish a smart agriculture data hub by 2028, with over 60% of farm production informatized, according to a draft municipal plan released in May for public comment.
Professor Xiong Wansheng, an agriculture expert at East China University of Science and Technology, highlighted that besides technology, Shanghai\’s moderate-scale farming model is key to its success. Unlike the vast fields of Northeast or Central China, which resemble American-style megafarms, farms in Shanghai are smaller and well-suited to local conditions.
\”Shanghai succeeds by relying on local farmers—people who feel responsible for the land and work closely with agricultural authorities,\” he said. \”Generous subsidies also make it possible for farmers with just six to 13 hectares of land to earn a decent income, motivating them to engage in intensive and meticulous farming.\”
Shanghai has steadily increased investment in agricultural technology in recent years, with funding of close to 70 million yuan (US$9.83 million) released for related projects so far this year, according to official disclosures.
The city\’s affluent consumers are another advantage, supporting high-value farm products, said a township government official in Fengxian, another of Shanghai\’s suburban districts. \”Shanghai can\’t compete on scale—only on quality and premium prices,\” he said. \”And the market is here. The same products might not sell in less developed regions.\”
Still, low grain prices and modest farm incomes remain barriers to attracting talent and advancing agricultural technology. Drone spraying of fertiliser and pesticide was already common in his town, the official said, describing it as the first step towards automated farming. But full automation was not yet cost-effective for harvesting, drying, and storage, he said.
\”Machinery, equipment and software require huge investments, but rice sells for just under 4 yuan per kilogram—the returns just aren\’t there yet,\” he said.
