AgTech Firm XAG Reduced Carbon Emissions by 960,000 Tons in 2021

According to smart agricultural tech firm XAG’s 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, the firm saved 30.6 million tons of water and 360 million liters of fuel during the year. It also reportedly reduced 10.43 million tons in crop losses and 960,000 tons of carbon emissions in 2021, by using agricultural unmanned drones and vehicles, improving agricultural production efficiency.

Founded in April 2012, XAG focuses on introducing robots, artificial intelligence and new energy technologies in the agriculture industry. The company’s main business includes R&D, manufacturing and sales of intelligent agricultural equipment and management systems, including agricultural unmanned drones and vehicles and IoT equipment. It also provides related technical services.

The firm tries to collect agricultural field maps by remote sensing drones, and operates accurately according to the routes with drones and unmanned vehicles. Using this intelligent mapping, fixed-point sowing, fertilizing and spraying can be realized.

In the process of using unmanned drones and vehicles to carry out spring plowing, the system can directly sow seeds in paddy fields, eliminating the steps of raising and transplanting seedlings. The sowing can be made more accurate and uniform, and the operation efficiency is 30 times that of manual operation.

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According to Justin Gong, the co-founder of XAG, the first step for the company to become an agricultural tech firm is to build a “super farm.” A super farm consists of five parts: a “super paddy field,” a “super orchard,” an intelligent agricultural experimental field, a forest and an “XLoft.” The goal of the super paddy field is that the whole process of growing rice should be “unmanned.” The company wants to test how to improve the efficiency of orchards and tea plantations in its super orchards, while verifying new products and technologies in agricultural experimental fields.

XAG is gradually experimenting and promoting smart agriculture through experimental fields. In April 2021, in a cotton field covering 30 square kilometers from Korla at the southern foot of China’s Tianshan Mountains, two employees of XAG tried to manage 3,000 mu (2 square kilometers) of cotton fields and experiment with the super farm plan. After the autumn harvest, the super cotton field saves 60% of labor costs, 900,000 tons of water, 31% of chemical fertilizer and 36% of pesticide.