From The Editor

Renee Targos Editor

China Forges Ahead

A global leader in crop protection — and also in ag tech — China’s Five-Year Plan has its growers accessing and using drones, Internet of Things (IoTs), and automation. With China’s extensive geography and hands-on government, two traits not always associated with quick change, China is rapidly modernizing its agricultural practices.

In less than a decade, drone crop protection in China went from few hundred hectare (Ha) to more than 130 million Ha by 2022 reported by Professor Xuemin Wu of China Agricultural University. Chinese growers used 4,000 ag drones in 2016, which grew to 120,000 ag drones in 2021 as reported by the National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center (NATESC).

Amro Ni, International Sales Director, XAG, Co., Ltd

Amro Ni, International Sales Director for XAG, Co., Ltd, a leading smart agriculture technology company  in China, says, “For the past 10 years, smart agriculture has played an important role in providing technological support to growers and been put into programs for ensuring national food securities in China.”

While China and Japan are moving ahead with ag tech, not all Asian countries are able to keep up with these advancements.

Dr. Siang Hee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia, said after an extensive survey of the countries involved with his organization, a unanimous concern rose to the top of the list.

“The survey results showed 86% of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) government officials who took the “Policymaker Survey: Climate Change Impact on ASEAN Agriculture” on April of 2022, agreed on the importance of innovation in the areas of agricultural technologies and sciences, which should be delivered in a critical and sufficient timeline for farmers to adopt ag tech to adapt and mitigate climate change,” says Tan.

Dr. Siang Hee Tan Executive Director CropLife Asia

“Seventy-one percent agreed that it was important to ensure regulatory frameworks are in place to enable farmers to access agricultural technologies and science,” Tan continued.

For some Western countries, government regulatory and legislative departments are behind in comparison to the East. Canada registered three biological products for drones in 2022, but at the end of 2023, no province or territory permitted their application according to Sprayers101. The U.S. is starting to take action around legislation, but the time its taking has impacted adoption.

While China, like any other country, doesn’t get everything right, they are showing the Western hemisphere their ability to act when it comes to ag tech adoption. Western growers need all the support they can get, so I am hoping in 2024, we’ll see the U.S. and Canadian governments start increasing support for the adoption of ag tech.

While ag tech use continues to grow in China, there are other exciting developments to follow as well in 2024. In this special China edition, we’ll uncover many of the changes and strategies  China’s government and companies are using to rebound after the COVID-19 lockdowns and 2023/2024 oversupply in the market. You’ll learn how you can do business in China and what new opportunities this country is offering to the crop protection industry.

We are also highlighting some of AgriBusiness Global’s partners and getting their thoughts on how companies can pivot and prosper in 2024.

We hope you’ll enjoy this issue. If you have any thoughts about this column or opinions you’d like to share about the crop protection industry in China, please write to me at [email protected].  •

AIExplosion – stock.adobe.com
Photo of Dr. Siang Hee Tan courtesy of CropLife Asia.