Unmanned tillage planters, equipped with China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), have served agricultural modernization in east China's Jiangsu Province.

A 260 horsepower unmanned tractor, carrying the new planter, can conduct nine tillage processes, saving 60 percent cost of wheat tillage and sowing compared with traditional equipment, reported the Science and Technology Daily. 

The BDS system facilitates the digital positioning of fertilizers and seeds to enhance soil utilization, remarkably saving 70 percent of labor costs. 

The application of the BDS system on the planter can also help to solve the problem of uneven soil-grass mixture and control both amount and positioning of seeds. 

The digitalized tillage planters, developed by a research team from Yangzhou University, have been in pilot operation on the farmlands in the cities of Yangzhou and Taixing in Jiangsu Province since 2020. 

The promotion of advanced equipment and technology is expected to improve the quality and efficiency but lower costs of agricultural production, as well as accelerate the transformation of traditional agriculture, stated the report.