A group of 16 undergraduate and graduate students from HZAU visited Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in the UK in mid-July for a two-week program, led by teachers from the College of Plant Science & Technology of HZAU.
The visiting students participated in courses and lectures on vertical farms, LED lights for cultivation, agricultural drones, GIS application, plant nutrition and plant growth hormones and British culture. They learned how to build safe and adaptive food supply chains with data, explored the application of automation systems in agriculture and conducted field research on large local farms and laboratories.
The students visited a typical English family farm involving both modern technology and traditional wisdom. It maintains a warm, family-run atmosphere while achieving high levels of mechanization in production. Dozens of large agricultural machines, each with different functions, were neatly arranged, demonstrating modern technology's impact in every stage from sowing to processing, which not only steadily increases yield but also significantly reduces labor.
Students visit a family farm in the UK. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
"By witnessing the development model of green agriculture on British family farms, I came to appreciate the advanced concepts and practical achievements of agricultural modernization in developed countries," said a visiting HZAU student.
The students also toured Rothamsted Research, the largest agricultural research center in the UK and one of the world's leading agricultural research centers. The scientists there shared the aims of the center with the students, which include driving agricultural reform and improving human health through technological innovation, and also introduced their research results.
Students visit Rothamsted Research [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
At the Clifton campus of NTU, students saw several unassuming shipping containers, which are actually "hydroponic vertical farms", equipped with LED lighting systems developed by Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Organized by HZAU's College of Plant Science & Technology and the International Office of NTU, the activity allowed students to exchange and learn from peers from over 10 countries, including Germany, US and India.