Recently, the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Science and Technology announced the "2024 Heilongjiang Provincial Concept Validation Center Filing List". The "Heilongjiang Intelligent Irrigation Equipment Concept Validation Center", led by the School of Electronics Engineering of Heilongjiang University, was successfully approved. This marks the first concept validation center approved for our university and represents another breakthrough in smart irrigation platform construction for the School of Electronics Engineering, following the earlier approval of the "Heilongjiang Smart Irrigation Industrial Technology Research Institute". The successful filing of this center signifies a major achievement in university-local collaboration and demonstrates that our university has established a complete innovation chain of "basic research-technological validation-industrial application" in smart irrigation equipment, further highlighting our advantages in scientific innovation platforms.

For years, the School of Electronics Engineering has aligned with national smart agriculture strategic needs. Driven by both electronic information disciplines and data from cold-region agricultural scenarios, it has developed a "one chain, three platforms" disciplinary framework in intelligent irrigation equipment. At the fundamental research level, it focuses on core areas including irrigation sensing technology, intelligent control algorithms, and water-fertilizer synergy optimization, undertaking central government-guided local scientific development projects. The transformation and validation phase provides full-process services including principle verification, scenario adaptation, and commercial evaluation, addressing the "first kilometer" challenge in technological achievement transformation. At the industry collaboration level, through partnerships with leading enterprises like Heilongjiang Eastern Water-saving Technology Group, it has established the "Smart Irrigation Industrial Technology Research Institute" and "Water-Fertilizer Integration Innovation Alliance", incubating 12 patented technologies and serving over 500,000 mu (approximately 33,333 hectares) of demonstration farmland.

The Heilongjiang Intelligent Irrigation Equipment Concept Validation Center integrates multidisciplinary teams to develop a "sensor-controller-cloud platform" smart irrigation system solution. It has made breakthroughs in key technologies including low-temperature environment equipment reliability and multi-variable precision control. By establishing joint research institutions with multiple industry enterprises, it has created a closed-loop mechanism of "enterprise problem proposal - academic solution development - platform validation - market application". Over the past three years, research funding in irrigation equipment has exceeded 5 million yuan across both horizontal (industry collaboration) and vertical (government-funded) research projects. Developed equipment such as intelligent fertilizer applicators and mobile irrigation terminals have been deployed in cold-region agricultural areas including Heihe and Suihua, contributing to water-saving and efficiency improvements exceeding 35%.

From "technological breakthroughs" to "field implementation", from "disciplinary development" to "industrial revitalization", the School of Electronics Engineering at Heilongjiang University is crafting an innovation-driven blueprint for smart agriculture empowerment in cold regions through its robust platform matrix.