Project Overview

● Project Name: 7,400-Mu High-Yield Spring Corn Smart Agricultural Water-Saving Irrigation Demonstration Project

● Location: Zhalantun City, Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

● Crop: High-Yield Spring Corn / Maize (Zea mays L., Large-Scale Grain Crop)

● Scale: 7,400 mu (~493.3 hectares / ~5 km²) contiguous flat mechanized farmland

● Water Source: Deep-well groundwater

● Solution Provider: Shandong Yunhai Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

● Core Hardware: Yunhai Large-Flow Smart Fertigation Machines, Heavy-Duty Automatic Backwashing Sand/Disc Filtration Matrix, LoRa Wireless Intelligent Decoders, and Large-Diameter Industrial Solenoid Valves

Project Highlights & Key Metrics

● 40%+ Reduction in Infrastructure & Cabling Costs ("Trenchless" LoRa Wireless)

● 35%+ Seasonal Water Utilization Improvement

● 30%+ Fertilizer Efficiency Gain

● 1 Technician Full-Farm Mobile Dispatch Across 7,400 Mu (~5 km²)

● -30°C to 70°C Wide-Temperature Stable Operation in Extreme Northern Climates

1. Background & Challenges

Located in the transition belt between the eastern foothills of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the Songnen Plain, this project is situated in a high-latitude cold-temperate continental monsoon zone. The region is characterized by a short frost-free period, windy springs, and intense evaporation, demanding exceptional soil moisture retention and rapid agronomic response.

As a core demonstration zone for tens-of-thousands-of-mu smart agriculture in Hulunbuir, this single contiguous block spans 7,400 mu (over 5 km²) and represents a standard ultra-large-scale modernized mechanized farm.

Core Operational Challenges:

● Massive Spatial Span: With an operational radius extending several kilometers, conventional wired systems would require tens of kilometers of underground cabling—incurring prohibitive costs and high risks of cable breakage during heavy machinery operations (subsoiling, seeding, cultivating, and harvesting).

● High Groundwater Silt & Sand Load: High-volume deep-well water in northern regions carries substantial sand and suspended sediments, creating severe siltation and clogging hazards for field drip laterals and emitters.

● Narrow Agronomic Windows: Spring corn experiences an explosive demand for water and nutrients from jointing/booting to grain-filling. Manual valve switching across such a vast area is labor-intensive and fails to deliver timely, uniform replenishment within critical growth windows.

To resolve these bottlenecks, the farm deployed Shandong Yunhai Intelligent Equipment’s customized system architecture: "Heavy-Duty Head Filtration + Precision Fertigation Dosing + LoRa Wire-Free Field Valve Control + IoT Cluster Scheduling."

2. Integrated Solutions & System Architecture

① Heavy-Duty Automatic Backwashing Sand-Removal Filtration Matrix

● 3D Media Sand Bed Filtration: Heavy-duty sand media filters act as the primary defense, capturing coarse and fine sand particles and suspended colloids from high-yield wellheads. High-precision secondary disc filters deliver fine polishing.

● Seamless Differential Pressure Backwashing: Intelligent micro-controllers detect pressure differentials across filter beds and trigger sequential, automated backwash cycles without dropping main line water pressure, permanently eliminating clogging risks across thousands of mu of drip laterals.

② Heavy-Duty Open-Field Fertigation & VFD Constant-Pressure Distribution

● Synchronized Precision Dosing: High-sensitivity electronic flow meters and multi-channel injection systems automatically blend macro- and micro-nutrient water-soluble fertilizers according to the corn's dynamic uptake curve (emergence, jointing, whorl/bell stage, tasseling, and grain-filling).

● Dynamic VFD Pressure Regulation: Integrated Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) controls adjust pump speed in real time according to active shift-irrigation flow demands, eliminating water hammer shocks, preventing pipeline bursts, and reducing pumping energy consumption.

③ "Trenchless & Wire-Free" LoRa Field Wireless Valve Network

● Long-Range Frequency-Hopping Telemetry: Industrial-grade LoRa wireless RF technology easily penetrates several kilometers across open fields. This completely eliminates trenching and cable burial, avoiding mechanical damage from heavy agricultural machinery.

● Off-Grid Solar Power & All-Weather Durability: Wireless decoders feature an autonomous "Micro Solar Panel + Lithium Battery" power architecture with IP68 waterproof/dustproof rating and broad-temperature resilience (-30°C to 70°C), ensuring zero-failure operation in extreme cold, heat, heavy rain, and snow.

● Low-Power Direct Valve Actuation: Wireless nodes directly drive field branch lines via large-diameter, corrosion-resistant solenoid valves with sub-second response times and real-time millisecond-level status feedback.

④ Digital Agriculture Cloud-Based Cluster Shift-Irrigation Scheduling

● Standardized Cluster Partitioning: Leveraging the Yunhai Smart Ag IoT Platform and 4G cloud networking, operators can segment the 7,400-mu farm into dozens of standardized shift-irrigation groups via smartphone app or PC dashboard.

● Autonomous Cycling & Safeguards: Supports customizable rotation sequences, timed/volumetric irrigation budgets, pressure overload alerts, and automatic fault shutdowns for continuous 24/7 unattended cycling.

3. Key Results & Business Value

● Substantially Lowered CAPEX & OPEX: The trenchless LoRa wireless deployment eliminated tens of thousands of meters of field control cabling and civil works, slashing infrastructure costs by over 40%. It also eradicated cable aging, rodent chewing, and machinery cutoffs, reducing ongoing maintenance costs to near zero.

● Single-Operator Mobile Farm Dispatch: Replaced traditional multi-person fleet inspections with one technician managing the entire 7,400-mu farm from a single smartphone, increasing operational efficiency by dozens of times.

● Precision Fertigation & High-Yield Resilience: By adopting a "frequent micro-dosing directly to root zones" strategy, water efficiency improved by >35% and fertilizer efficiency rose by >30%. Uniform water-nutrient delivery promoted consistent ear height, higher seed-setting rates, and increased 1,000-grain weight in high-latitude cold climates.

● Digital Model for High-Latitude Modern Agriculture: The success of the Zhalantun project validates the rugged durability and technological leadership of Yunhai Intelligent Equipment in large-scale northern farmlands, harsh climates, and heavy mechanized farming scenarios.