Technology Redefines Agricultural Boundaries: Four Rice Harvests a Year in Shenzhen Hetao Park Office Buildings

Forget the traditional image of rice paddies stretching across open fields. In Shenzhen’s Hetao Cooperation Zone, the scent of blooming rice now fills modern office buildings. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, a new dwarf rice variety is thriving indoors and delivering impressive harvests.

Indoor Cultivation: Compact, Productive, and Resource-Efficient

These dwarf rice plants grow on multi-tiered shelves inside controlled environments. Standing just over 20 centimeters tall, each plant produces 400 to 600 grains per panicle. Beyond the edible rice, the clean root system can be used directly as a traditional Chinese medicinal material, while the leaves serve as high-quality livestock feed—making every part of the plant valuable.

Figure 1: Intelligent Precision Control

The success of this system lies in precise scientific control. The rice is grown in a carefully formulated hydroponic nutrient solution enriched with essential micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Above the plants, specialized LED lights equipped with patented chips deliver tailored light spectra that match the exact needs of each growth stage, effectively simulating optimal natural sunlight.

An AI-powered system maintains ideal growing conditions by precisely regulating temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. As a result, the rice grows uniformly in height and vigor across the entire facility.

Four Harvests Annually: Breaking Free from Traditional Constraints

This technology-driven model is independent of weather and geography. A single four-layer planting rack, when laid flat, occupies the equivalent of one mu of traditional farmland. However, thanks to higher planting density and four harvests per year, the annual yield can reach up to 3,000 kilograms—significantly outperforming conventional methods.

Figure 2:The core innovation of this rice variety resides in its genetic seed stock. This novel dwarf cultivar is engineered for indoor agricultural systems.

This indoor approach opens new possibilities for modern agriculture in densely populated cities, offering a replicable model for ensuring food security through innovative urban farming.

Precision Agriculture Transforms Traditional Rice Fields

Meanwhile, technology is also revolutionizing conventional rice farming. In Guangzhou’s Zengcheng District, the Fuxi Farm—part of a pilot project by the Chinese Academy of Sciences—demonstrates smart field management at scale.

During the critical early rice management period across Guangdong’s more than 13 million mu of early-season rice fields, Fuxi Farm uses soil-testing robots and drone-based variable rate fertilization guided by digital “prescription maps.”

Unlike traditional uniform application (typically around 40 jin of high-potassium fertilizer per mu), drones now apply fertilizer according to detailed grid-based maps. Soil-testing robots analyze nine key soil nutrients (including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter) down to a 30-centimeter depth, generating data in 10m × 10m grids. This information feeds into the “Fuxi Brain” system, which creates precise fertilization prescriptions.

The result? Optimized fertilizer use, with overall consumption reduced by 15% to 20%, lowering costs while maintaining or improving yields. This integrated approach—robot soil testing, AI-generated prescriptions, and drone application—creates a fully data-driven management chain that sets a new standard for smart agriculture in South China.

Figure 3:  Soil Testing Robot

A New Era for Agriculture

From AI-controlled indoor rice production in urban high-rises to precision farming in traditional fields, technology is expanding the boundaries of agriculture. These innovations not only boost productivity and resource efficiency but also provide scalable solutions for sustainable food production in the future.