Agricultural modernization boosts rural revitalization

On March 8, engineer Gao Pengfei was conducting the final trial of a strangely shaped farming machine on an experimental farm in Jinzhong High-Tech Agricultural Demonstration Zone in the city of Jinzhong, Shanxi province.

Developed by the Smart Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Lab of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is China's first autonomous-driving farm-spraying vehicle with replaceable batteries.

"The new farm-spraying machine can be as much as three times more efficient than conventional machines," Gao said.

According to Gao, research and development on the machine began in July 2020 and trial operations began in January.

Established in the high-tech agricultural zone last year, the CAS Smart Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Lab is one of the zone's latest efforts to drive rural revitalization and agricultural modernization in Jinzhong as well as Shanxi province as a whole.

Known as "the Agricultural Valley" in Shanxi province, Jinzhong High-Tech Agricultural Demonstration Zone was founded in 2017. It was approved by the State Council as a national-level high-tech agricultural zone in November 2019.

Its latest technological breakthroughs include a smart agricultural operational system and China's largest gene bank for quinoa.

Also playing a crucial role in Jinzhong's rural revitalization is the booming tourism industry.

The city is known as a popular tourist destination in Shanxi for famous attractions, such as the ancient city of Pingyao and the centuries-old residences of the famed Shanxi merchants.

Leveraging its branding awareness among tourists, Jinzhong's focus on tourism was recently shifted to the countryside in an aim to boost rural development.

One such example is Zuoquan county, which is using its unique cultural resources－folk songs－to attract tourists to its rural areas.

The county's farmers have developed a tradition of singing folk songs and holding folk song contests for hundreds of years.

Some tourists to Zuoquan claimed that "a tour of Zuoquan is always accompanied by folk songs and the folk songs can make a trip extremely impressive and relaxing".

Realizing that the folk songs are a unique resource for cultural tourism, Zuoquan's tourism authorities launched the Zuoquan Folk Song Gala in 2019. The gala has since grown into an annual event, attracting singers from across the country and involving the participation of locals and tourists alike.

As the folk song gala becomes more popular across the nation, its major sightseeing attractions, which are collectively known as the"50-kilometer natural gallery", are gaining recognition among tourists in China.

The natural gallery is now home to more than 280 tourist attractions and the growing inflow of tourists has played an important role in poverty alleviation.

According to the county government of Zuoquan, the tourism industry has offered jobs to more than 5,000 rural residents over the past three years. The industry has also helped more than 2,100 people out of poverty, with their per capita annual income increasing 6,200 yuan ($959) in three years.

Li Shu contributed to this story.