In early summer season, the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in northwest China comes alive as white wine grapes reach maturity.
At one grape planting base, drip irrigation tubes dangle along the vines, managed by a smartphone app.
This integrated drip watering system allows for exact water and fertilizer management, stated Liu Huibin, deputy supervisor of the management department at GreatWall Terroirs grape planting base.
Sensors send essential information such as soil temperature and humidity, climate condition and watering flow to a smart control platform to support vineyard operations.
According to Liu, compared to conventional flood irrigation, which took in 700 to 800 cubic meters of water per mu (about 0.07 hectares) each year, the new system requires only 220 to 260 cubic meters.
This improvement not just saves water but also enhances fertilizer efficiency, benefiting vine development, and stabilizing grape quality.
Smart watering likewise saves labor.
Flood-irrigating 300 mu used to require at least 5 employees.
Now, with drip irrigation across over 7,000 mu, just five employees are required.
Its both effective and convenient, Liu added.Located in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the eastern foot of Helan Mountain is recognized as a golden zone for grape growing.
Its plentiful sunlight, well-aerated soil, substantial day-night temperature differences and access to Yellow River irrigation make it ideal for high-end white wine production.By the end of 2024, the region had more than 600,000 mu of wine grape plantations and a yearly red wine output of 140 million bottles.
These white wines were successfully exported to more than 40 nations and regions.In current years, Ningxia has actually embraced innovation to transform its white wine market.
The region has actually established more than 30 clinical research study platforms and made advancements in virus-free seedling proliferation, soil-fertilizer-water management, ecological planting and contemporary wine making strategies.
Digitalization is likewise driving the market towards greater integration and high-end advancement through intelligent technology.Huangkou Winery, a popular regional white wine manufacturer, has actually adopted a digital fermentation control system that keeps track of key indications such as temperature, density, liquified oxygen and liquid level in fermentation tanks.
With the mobile app, we can keep track of and adjust fermentation conditions in real time, avoiding errors and hold-ups caused by manual checks and ensuring steady white wine quality, stated Li Dan, a lab technician at the winery.The winery has actually likewise utilized Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to keep an eye on vineyard conditions in genuine time, released drones and remote sensing for rapid examinations and eco-friendly pest control, and utilized blockchain for transparent product traceability.
This enables consumers to gain access to in-depth production information by scanning QR codes, according to Zhang Xueyan, the winerys director.Zhang included that the winery has actually protected over 20 technological patents and R&D developments through cooperations with universities.
Innovations consist of fermentation tanks with longer legs and cone-shaped discharge ports, along with unique oxygen-permeable polymer barrels, which have substantially improved production performance and item quality.In January in 2015, the white wine market technology collaborative development center was developed at the eastern foot of the Helan Mountain.
As Chinas very first open and shared platform for the wine market, it intends to improve the development system and promote intelligent management across vineyards and wineries.
We will continue to focus on development and integrate resources to build a digital platform covering the whole red wine industry chain, creating smart vineyards and boosting the international competitiveness of Ningxias premium red wines, stated Li Jun, director of the management committee of the red wine industry park on the eastern foot of Helan Mountain.