China to host China-ASEAN agricultural technology conference
Nanjing Agricultural University will host the China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) International Conference on Soil-Water-Crop Intelligent Monitoring for Nitrogen (ICSIM2021) starting today.
The five-day ICSIM2021 will be set against the backdrop of COVID-19’s impact on food security in Asia, and a move to closer China-ASEAN cooperation on developing agricultural smart technology. Food security is a primary concern for many ASEAN countries whose agriculture industry suffered significantly from the impacts of COVID-19. China and ASEAN see intelligent technologies and food production systems as a way to mitigate these types of supply chain risks.
As part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) and the recent China-ASEAN Plan of Action, the two stakeholders have opened new channels to jointly develop agricultural smart technologies such as intelligent crop monitoring systems. ICSIM2021 will build upon these dialogue channels and explore new technologies through a series of lectures and scientific excursions.
Short-term, expect China and ASEAN to formalize this agricultural technology sharing system in the form of the China-ASEAN Ecological Intelligent Agriculture Development Alliance. In the long term, with Chinese industry leading these technological efforts, China may be able to gain additional soft power in the region through establishing international standards for advanced agricultural monitoring and artificial intelligence technology.
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