An aerial view of the Eshan She Ethnic township in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

The Eshan She Ethnic township in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, has been utilizing digital technology to develop its agricultural industry and rural areas.

Eshan, the only township primarily inhabited by ethnic minorities in Hangzhou, has been designated as a rural demonstration rural area for developing digital technology in Tonglu.

Shenguan village, located in the township, stood out from the town's other villages due to its successful efforts to pilot digital technology and make agricultural management smarter.

The village established a 5G-powered digital management center, allowing technical workers to view real-time data on the growth status of rice.

Technical workers can also monitor the temperature and water quality of rice fields via the digital management center, helping them decide when to eliminate pests and treat plant diseases.

Nearly 33 hectares of farmland have been managed via the smart digital system, and local farmers have begun feeding fish in the rice field with the help of technical workers.

The output of a two-hectare farmland was previously 400 kilograms of rice, but it has since increased, said Huang Jinyuan, Party chief of Shenguan village. He added that this amount of farmland can now also produce 130 kg of fish in addition to the rice.

In the following weeks, Eshan plans to continue applying digital technology into education, health care, governance, and entrepreneurship.

On Oct 20, the Eshan Ethnic Primary School launched a virtual reality (VR) teaching program,  using VR technology to help children in rural areas access high-quality education in urban Hangzhou.