On Nov 21, one of the series of activities of the 8th Sino-German Agricultural Week (SGAW)- Sino-German Smart Agriculture Expert Seminar was held online and offline. Chinese and German government departments, scholars, and business representatives held in-depth discussions on topics such as the application of Sino-German smart agriculture in planting and breeding, pilot areas and key projects, problems faced in promotion, and the future direction of Sino-German cooperation.

The SGAW has gained a reputation as an important platform for exchange within the context of bilateral cooperation between the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).

The offline site of the Sino-German Smart Agriculture Expert Seminar. [Farmers' Daily]

Despite differences in national conditions and modernization levels between China and Germany, the problems faced by the two countries in rural development are similar. Issues such as an aging population, the digital gap between urban and rural areas, and the participation of residents restricts the development of agriculture and rural areas. In the face of increasingly tight constraints on agricultural resources and the ecological environment, and the high cost and low efficiency of agricultural product production, smart agriculture has become an effective way to solve the practical problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and achieve sustainable agricultural development.

Germany has many years of research and application experience in the field of smart agriculture. Scholars gave detailed introductions on the development and application of precision agriculture, digital agriculture, and photovoltaic agriculture. According to Patrick Noack, a professor of agricultural information technology at the Weinstein University of Applied Sciences in Germany, precision agriculture, which relies on global satellite navigation information systems, near-infrared spectroscopy, geographic information systems, telemetry and sensor networks, can evaluate agricultural products and the quantity and quality of food, as well as monitor and optimize different goals, reduce costs and improve efficiency, reduce the ecological impact, and achieve food security. "Digital agriculture is widely used in the field of animal husbandry in Germany”, Heinz Bernhardt, a professor of agricultural systems engineering at the School of Life Sciences of the Technical University of Munich, introduced that feeding robots, cleaning robots, optical and acoustic sensors,  and automatic milking system, help realize the real-time monitoring of the physical condition of pigs and cattle, save manpower and make feeding more scientific and economical, as well as provide more product information for processing plants and customers through automatic data transmission. "In terms of carbon reduction, photovoltaic technology can serve as part of the energy source”, Kerstin Wydra, chair professor of crop production and climate change at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences in Germany, said that photovoltaic modules can provide energy for crops according to the weather. Supplementary light can also provide electricity for greenhouses and other equipment.

Smart agriculture started late and developed rapidly in China, and many achievements have been made in pilot demonstrations bases. Suzhou, Jiangsu, and Zibo, Shandong have launched smart agriculture pilot projects, and Chengdu, Sichuan and other places have also established smart agriculture experimental areas. Wu Wenbin, researcher and director of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and his team proposed a "data empowerment" solution, and developed intelligent sensing equipment for skyland orchards, a big data mining and service platform, and cloud-edge-end integrated smart orchard intelligence. There are three major sections of operating equipment, and experiments were carried out in the Yantai Qixia Demonstration Base, realizing multi-dimensional three-dimensional perception and information acquisition, data mining and analysis, precise operation and production management of orchards.

Wujiang district of Suzhou city, as a demonstration area of smart agriculture and rural areas, used the online platform "Jiangcuntong" to improve the work efficiency of the village committee and reduce the number of villagers' errands; Villagers provide digital education, medical care, e-commerce and other services.

The online site of the Sino-German Smart Agriculture Expert Seminar. [Farmers' Daily]

Although the development of smart agriculture in China and Germany has entered the fast lane, there are still multiple obstacles to its implementation and popularization. First of all, the information infrastructure and natural conditions in rural areas of China and Germany restrict the promotion of smart agriculture to a certain extent. Second, the digital gap between urban and rural areas and the digital literacy of elderly farmers need to be resolved. Narrowing the digital divide requires the open sharing of technologies. Third, farmers are more willing to adopt bottom-up and low-cost technologies for the issue of farmers' cooperation with the adoption of new technologies. Finally, there is the issue of information security. China still needs more detailed and standardized management of ownership and the rights of agricultural big data. Some small farmers in Germany are also reluctant to participate in the process of smart agriculture because they are afraid of data theft and privacy being exposed.

In order to strengthen mutual learning and promote the resolution of common problems, China and Germany proposed that in the future, the two countries will carry out extensive cooperation in the fields of smart agriculture, such as in planting and breeding, smart equipment, and talent exchanges.

Wang Geng, director of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Chinese executive director of the Sino-German Agricultural Center, said that the development of smart agriculture in the future requires not only China's vigorous exploration, but also exchanges and mutual learning with Germany and other developed countries. The center has built a broad platform for exchanges in the agricultural field between the two countries, and will also vigorously promote cooperation in the field of smart agriculture between the two countries.