Computers, software and the Internet are no longer novelties for
many Chinese farmers, as technology spreads from the cities and
brings agricultural modernization to areas such as the northwestern
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
More than 100 agriculture information officials and specialists
watched the success of information technology in agriculture at a
branch of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in the
southern part of the autonomous region, near the Taklimakan
Desert.
The corporation has employed state-of-the-art information
technology in seeding, irrigation and data collection for soil
property analysis.
Gao Zuoyu, an official in charge of information with the
Ministry of Agriculture, praised the corporation as "exemplary" in
its IT application in agricultural production.
He said information technology has become a new driving force in
the allocation of agricultural resources, upgrading traditional
agriculture and improving productivity since China first proposed
"information agriculture" 10 years ago.
In 1995, the Ministry of Agriculture began building a national
database and application systems for macro-regulation and control,
as well as forecasting systems for natural disasters, plant
diseases, pests, the sales of farm produce and market demands.
The "computerized agriculture," an information project launched
by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1996, has covered more
than 3 million hectares of farmland from 14 provinces and cities in
the underdeveloped western region.
Rural communication is on top of the agenda at State Council,
China's cabinet this year.
A conference on agricultural IT in May heard China had decided
to build five systems dedicated to agricultural monitoring and
early-warning.
The country will also extend a national agricultural information
service network into rural counties and villages.
The government has established agricultural information service
departments to collect data on agricultural production, pricing,
natural calamities, plant diseases, pests and farmers' incomes.
An official Website at www.agri.gov.cn has integrated
more than 20 other professional sites and opened an online
exposition in June 2004 for domestic growers and processors to sell
their products online.
The virtual fair has drawn more than 1,400 agricultural firms to
date.
"Promotion and application of information technology is the
first step toward agricultural modernization," said Gao, who saw
hope for China's agricultural sector to prosper with modern means
of production.
But he said regional disparity still exists in agricultural
information development.
(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2004)