Promote the rapid development of smart agriculture

With the widespread application of modern information technology in the field of agriculture, the agricultural intelligent revolution represented by smart agriculture has arrived. Smart agriculture is an advanced stage in the development of agricultural informatization from digitization to networking and then to intelligence. It has milestone significance for agricultural development and has become a trend in the development of modern agriculture in the world.

In recent years, with strong government support, China’s smart agriculture has developed rapidly. Under the guidance of policies and the trend of large-scale operation, significant progress has been made in the research and application of smart agricultural technologies such as commonly used environmental agricultural sensors, agricultural remote sensing technology, agricultural drones, agricultural machinery Beidou navigation, agricultural big data and intelligent algorithms, and some products have basically achieved domestic substitution. However, we should also be aware that China’s smart agriculture still lacks basic research and technological accumulation, and the overall technological level is 15 to 20 years behind that of developed countries. The following factors have to some extent affected the rapid development of smart agriculture in China.

One issue is the small scale of farmland and the prominent fragmentation of arable land in China. The average farm size in the United States is over 200 hectares, with 82% of EU countries having a farm area greater than 20 hectares and 52% having a farm area of 100 hectares. However, China’s farmland is small and fragmentation is high. Small farmers with an operating area of less than 3.4 hectares account for more than 95% of the total farmland in China. The agricultural production and operation methods of small farmers and small plots have led to low marginal benefits of smart agricultural technology investment in China and low enthusiasm for the application of agricultural management entities.

Secondly, the level of agricultural mechanization in China is relatively low. Implementing smart agriculture cannot do without the support of agricultural machinery and equipment. In recent years, China has increased its efforts to support and promote full process and comprehensive mechanization, and has achieved gratifying results. At the end of 2020, the comprehensive mechanization rate of China’s main grain crop cultivation and harvest reached 71%, the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvest in hilly and mountainous areas was 49%, the comprehensive mechanization rate of facility horticulture was 32%, the mechanization rate of animal husbandry and aquaculture was 35%, and the mechanization rate of aquaculture was 30%. However, due to factors such as diverse demand for agricultural machinery products and complex operating environments, there is still a 10 to 20 percentage point gap in China’s current level of agricultural mechanization and intelligence of agricultural machinery equipment compared to developed countries.

Thirdly, rural infrastructure is weak. Although rural broadband networks have already covered villages, the proportion of rural households and agricultural parks is low; The instability of 4G network signals, the lack of 5G base stations, and high communication costs have limited the development of agricultural informatization; The application of rural information collection terminals is limited, the infrastructure of the Internet of Things is weak, and there are few monitoring points for farmland meteorology, farmland quality, soil moisture, hydrology, etc; The lack of professional information equipment operation and maintenance teams has led to difficulties and high costs for agricultural production and operation entities to obtain information.

Fourthly, the effective supply of smart agricultural technology is insufficient. Due to weak basic research, insufficient innovation in information sensing agricultural sensors, intelligent decision-making model algorithms, and high-end agricultural intelligent equipment technology products, it cannot meet the needs of implementing smart agriculture. At the same time, there is also a lack of practical low threshold technologies targeting Chinese farmers and small plots, making it difficult to meet the needs of a wide range of farmers in China. In addition, the ecological diversity of agriculture also has diverse demands for technology and application models. However, for research and development entities, after investing a large amount of funds in research and development, they cannot replicate and promote on a large scale like industrial technology products, resulting in the unwillingness and unwillingness of enterprise research and development entities to invest.

At present, China’s smart agriculture is still in its initial development stage. To promote its rapid development, measures should be taken in the following five aspects.

One is to strengthen government support. Coordinate various resources, strengthen policy support, break through key core technologies, and achieve self-reliance and self-improvement. Implement a batch of major smart agriculture projects around key agricultural fields and industries, strengthen research and application demonstration of key technologies in smart agriculture, summarize experience, and establish replicable and scalable models and experiences.

The second is to formulate relevant funding subsidy policies. Given the social welfare, ecological regionalism, high dispersion, and personalized characteristics of agriculture, it is recommended to provide policy subsidies to the research and development and application entities of smart agricultural technology products, reduce or exempt enterprise taxes with smart agriculture as the core business, and reduce internet access and data transmission communication costs in rural areas.

The third is to strengthen the construction of technical standards and testing platforms. Relying on alliances, associations and other groups and organizations, quickly establish group standards for data, products, market access, and actively promote the construction of national and industry standards. Establish a third-party product and technology testing platform recognized by the country and industry.

Fourthly, establish an open data sharing mechanism. Agricultural data has the characteristics of being scattered and scattered, with numerous isolated islands. It is recommended that government departments strengthen the collection and integration of agricultural data, and open relevant data according to processes within a certain range, establishing a sharing mechanism. For foreign enterprises entering the domestic market, it is required that their products provide data interface standards.

Fifth, strengthen the construction of talent teams. To cultivate interdisciplinary talents in agriculture and information technology, it is recommended that educational institutions offer courses related to smart agriculture in graduate courses in universities, and encourage information professionals to enter the agricultural field to carry out relevant scientific research and application promotion. Actively carry out technical training and build a smart agricultural promotion team that understands technology, can operate and manage well.