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Intelligent Technologies for Agriculture in China
Some Chinese farmers have become accustomed to using computers to assist them in farming.
Farmers have been using software called "Agriculture Expert System", a product of the Application and Demonstration of Intelligent Agriculture Information Tech Project under the National Hi-tech R&D Program, also called "863 Program". The convergence of information and computer technologies with traditional agro-techs will lead the development of agriculture in the 21 century, said Zhao Chunjiang, director of Beijing Agriculture Information Technology Research Center, Tuesday at the National Agro-technology Conference.
With this software, farmers will be able to make the most of their limited resources to improve efficiency, he added. The project, which is headed by Zhao, started in 1991 and has set up 20 experimental districts nationwide in the past three years, about 40 percent are in western China. More than two million farmers have benefited from the software, with their total grain output rising by two million tons and reduced costs of 640 million yuan.
However, the application of the software varies in different regions of the country, Zhao said. Farmers in developed regions like Beijing and Tianjin can get on line to use the system while in less developed regions the software is in the form of compact disks.
Researchers have developed a palmtop electronic appliance, in which basic agriculture information and knowledge is stored. Zhao noted that the software is currently free for farmers and the project plans to add more experimental districts.
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