A comparative review of the state and advancement of Site-Specific Crop Management in the UK and China

Abstract

Precision agriculture, and more specifically Site-Specific Crop Management (SSCM), has been implemented in some form across nearly all agricultural production systems over the past 25 years. Adoption has been greatest in developed agricultural countries. In this review article, the current situation of SSCM adoption and application is investigated from the perspective of a developed (UK) and developing (China) agricultural economy. The current state-of-the art is reviewed with an emphasis on developments in position system technology and satellite-based remote sensing. This is augmented with observations on the differences between the use of SSCM technologies and methodologies in the UK and China and discussion of the opportunities for (and limitations to) increasing SSCM adoption in developing agricultural economies. A particular emphasis is given to the role of socio-demographic factors and the application of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in translating agritechnologies into China and other developing agricultural economies. Several key research and development areas are identified that need to be addressed to facilitate the delivery of SSCM as a holistic service into areas with low precision agriculture (PA) adoption. This has implications for developed as well as developing agricultural economies.

Understanding Smallholder Farmers’ Intention to Adopt Agricultural Apps: The Role of Mastery Approach and Innovation Hubs in Mexico

“…There is an increasing interest in literature that identifies the use of emerging technologies in precision agriculture to efficiently increase production while reducing its environmental impacts [1]. Precision agriculture is a management strategy that uses electronic information and other technologies to gather, process, and analyze spatial and temporal data for the purpose of guiding targeted actions that improve site-specific crop management, productivity, and sustainability of agricultural operations [2,3]. Typically, precision agriculture relies upon new technologies such as smart sensors, drones, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), or blockchain [4].…”

Precision agriculture technology adoption: a qualitative study of small-scale commercial “family farms” located in the North China Plain

“…PA is currently concentrated on large-scale commercial agricultural operations, which only account for 0.0007% of all farms in China (Clark et al, 2018). This may be in part due to lack of IT infrastructure to support PA technologies, coupled with a lack of capacity both within the industry and intended population, to exploit their potential at scale (Li et al, 2019).…”

“…For example, farmers are managing land to which they have no historic connection or may be farming fragmented and discontinuous plots rather than larger management zones. This hinders the adoption of more sophisticated PA technologies that are currently designed for large continuous land areas, making application on small plots challenging (Clark et al, 2018;Kendall et al, 2017;Li et al, 2019). Moreover, the creation of land markets has aided socio-economic trends, including increased levels of rural to urban migration, allowing farmers to transfer responsibility land to others to pursue higher earning employment opportunities in cities (He & Ye, 2014;Liang & Wu, 2014;Liu, 2014).…”

“…Rates of PA adoption vary considerably globally, with uptake in China recognised to fall significantly behind Europe and Australia (Chen et al, 2014;Say et al, 2018). The culmination of social, environmental, political and production pressures identify China as a country with significant potential to benefit from the adoption of PA technologies and make the country an interesting and timely example for their adoption (Li et al, 2019(Li et al, , 2020.…”

Precision Agriculture in Denmark and China: A Comprehensive Comparative Review with Policy Implications for China

“…However, very little has been done to compare the state of affairs of PA between countries to emulate each other. Examples of these few kinds of research include (Li et al, (2019), Fountas (2005, and Roberts et al, (2002)). It is against this backdrop that this paper aims to conduct a comprehensive comparative review of the state of PA between Denmark and China to fill the gap in academic literature and also provoke policymakers.…”