Huzhou's Deqing county was recently ranked first in a national appraisal for agricultural and rural digitalization in county-level areas across China.

This is the third time that Deqing has topped the evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Deqing has in recent years made strides in promoting digitalization in agriculture and rural areas.

The county's agricultural production efficiency has increased by more than 40 percent as a result of the campaign, with information of 99 percent of local agricultural products now traceable online.

The mechanization of agriculture has also been greatly enhanced in Deqing.

A plant protection task that used to require six workers working for a whole day can now be done in two hours by a drone, according to Fei Yinger, president of the Xianfeng Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative, which has to date purchased more than 330 sets of farm machinery, including drones used for sowing and crop protection.

In addition to Deqing, other administrative counties in Huzhou have also been classified as areas that have highly digitalized agricultural and rural areas.