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Information technology alters the roadmap to agricultural modernization
Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 36 (2002) 91 /92 www.elsevier.com/locate/compag
Guest editorial
Information technology alters the roadmap to agricultural modernization This special issue of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture collects eight papers presented in Session 6, ‘Technology Innovation and Sustainable Agriculture’, of the International Conference on Engineering and Technological Sciences (ICETS 2000) held in Beijing in October, 2000. Information technology (IT) applied to agriculture is a common focal point of these papers. It is interesting to notice a major difference between developed countries and developing countries, of which China serves as a distinguished representative, in their roadmaps to agriculture modernization. For the developed countries in North America and Europe, agriculture ‘informization’ (let us assume that this word has been recognized by linguistic and technical authorities) lagged mechanization by at least an half of a century, whereas in China, agriculture ‘informization’ takes off even before mechanization is half-accomplished. This is nothing strange when compared with the development of wireless technology in China. If one visited China in 1990 and revisited it in 2000, he would be overwhelmingly amazed by the unbelievable population growth of cell phones, especially when recalling the fact that, in 1990, even stationary house phones were still considered luxury in China. To developing counties, such as China, IT is a gift from the modern history of civilization. IT assists China to achieve agricultural mechanization efficiently and intelligently. IT provides a rare opportunity for China to regain its leading role in world agriculture. More importantly, IT will probably become one of a very few tools that will guide China and the world to a sustainable agriculture. When the concept of precision agriculture (PA) was first introduced to China, it was largely considered a ‘future technology’ or, a dream. Through diligent work of Chinese agricultural engineers and scientists, the concept has gradually gained more popularity among intellectuals, policy makers, and farmers in China. Two papers in this issue by Cox and Zhang et al. were intended to introduce worldwide development of PA technologies to their Chinese audiences. Residing in different continents, the authors gave their overviews from two different perspectives, which seem to be complementary to each other in many ways. In Cox’s paper, the concept of PA was taken broadly to apply to both crop and livestock production and IT was reviewed under the headings of information acquisition, utilization, and communication. Predictions for future development included genetic manipulations of crop, biosensors and bioelectronics, and intelligent climate control. In the paper of 0168-1699/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 1 6 9 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 4 - 7
92
Editorial
Zhang et al., causes for worldwide slow adoption of PA technologies were examined. Sensors used for PA were reviewed in categories of yield sensors, field sensors, soil sensors, crop sensors, and anomaly sensors. A discussion on potential applications of PA technologies in China was also given. Two other review papers in this issue concentrated on applications of machinevision technologies in agriculture and food industry. The paper of Chen et al. reviewed advanced hardware and software of machine-vision systems available for quality inspection, safety inspection, grading, sorting, and defect detection of agricultural and food products. Emphases were given to multispectral and hyperspectral imaging techniques. Brosnan and Sun, in their paper, gave detailed reviews of computer /vision systems used in inspection and grading of many types of fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains, and consumer food products, and identified areas for further research. As being pointed out in their paper, one should not overlook the prospects for X-ray imaging in detection of internal defects of meat and other food products. The remaining four papers in this special issue reported research conducted in the IT area. Three of the research papers were in the area of PA, whereas the fourth one was an application of machine vision technology. A sensor-based, precision herbicide application system described in Tian’s paper utilized multiple machine / vision sensors specially designed for outdoor lighting conditions to estimate weed density and to control individual spray nozzles in real-time. Significant reduction in herbicide use was reported. Paul reported, in his paper, an experiment on site-specific nitrogen fertilizer application and irrigation control based on simultaneous measurements of the real and imaginary parts of soil permittivity. Jin and Jiang summarized their findings from a preliminary study on spatial variability of available nutrient content in agricultural fields. The variability was attributed mainly to management schemes under the ‘family responsibility system’ in China. In the paper of Li et al., an automated apple surface-defect sorting system was reported. A unique feature of the system was its ability to simultaneously inspect four sides of apples. The Guest Editors would like to express their sincere thanks to Dr Sidney Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, for his encouragement and his meticulous assistance with the editing process. We feel proud of the fact that this is the first special issue of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture with contributions entirely from a technical conference organized by Chinese scientists. Maohua Wang Research Center for Precision Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Qinghua Donglu, Beijing 100083, People’s Republic of China E-mail: [email protected] Naiqian Zhang Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Seaton Hall, Room 147, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA E-mail: [email protected]
Guest editorial
Information technology alters the roadmap to agricultural modernization This special issue of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture collects eight papers presented in Session 6, ‘Technology Innovation and Sustainable Agriculture’, of the International Conference on Engineering and Technological Sciences (ICETS 2000) held in Beijing in October, 2000. Information technology (IT) applied to agriculture is a common focal point of these papers. It is interesting to notice a major difference between developed countries and developing countries, of which China serves as a distinguished representative, in their roadmaps to agriculture modernization. For the developed countries in North America and Europe, agriculture ‘informization’ (let us assume that this word has been recognized by linguistic and technical authorities) lagged mechanization by at least an half of a century, whereas in China, agriculture ‘informization’ takes off even before mechanization is half-accomplished. This is nothing strange when compared with the development of wireless technology in China. If one visited China in 1990 and revisited it in 2000, he would be overwhelmingly amazed by the unbelievable population growth of cell phones, especially when recalling the fact that, in 1990, even stationary house phones were still considered luxury in China. To developing counties, such as China, IT is a gift from the modern history of civilization. IT assists China to achieve agricultural mechanization efficiently and intelligently. IT provides a rare opportunity for China to regain its leading role in world agriculture. More importantly, IT will probably become one of a very few tools that will guide China and the world to a sustainable agriculture. When the concept of precision agriculture (PA) was first introduced to China, it was largely considered a ‘future technology’ or, a dream. Through diligent work of Chinese agricultural engineers and scientists, the concept has gradually gained more popularity among intellectuals, policy makers, and farmers in China. Two papers in this issue by Cox and Zhang et al. were intended to introduce worldwide development of PA technologies to their Chinese audiences. Residing in different continents, the authors gave their overviews from two different perspectives, which seem to be complementary to each other in many ways. In Cox’s paper, the concept of PA was taken broadly to apply to both crop and livestock production and IT was reviewed under the headings of information acquisition, utilization, and communication. Predictions for future development included genetic manipulations of crop, biosensors and bioelectronics, and intelligent climate control. In the paper of 0168-1699/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 1 6 9 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 4 - 7
92
Editorial
Zhang et al., causes for worldwide slow adoption of PA technologies were examined. Sensors used for PA were reviewed in categories of yield sensors, field sensors, soil sensors, crop sensors, and anomaly sensors. A discussion on potential applications of PA technologies in China was also given. Two other review papers in this issue concentrated on applications of machinevision technologies in agriculture and food industry. The paper of Chen et al. reviewed advanced hardware and software of machine-vision systems available for quality inspection, safety inspection, grading, sorting, and defect detection of agricultural and food products. Emphases were given to multispectral and hyperspectral imaging techniques. Brosnan and Sun, in their paper, gave detailed reviews of computer /vision systems used in inspection and grading of many types of fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains, and consumer food products, and identified areas for further research. As being pointed out in their paper, one should not overlook the prospects for X-ray imaging in detection of internal defects of meat and other food products. The remaining four papers in this special issue reported research conducted in the IT area. Three of the research papers were in the area of PA, whereas the fourth one was an application of machine vision technology. A sensor-based, precision herbicide application system described in Tian’s paper utilized multiple machine / vision sensors specially designed for outdoor lighting conditions to estimate weed density and to control individual spray nozzles in real-time. Significant reduction in herbicide use was reported. Paul reported, in his paper, an experiment on site-specific nitrogen fertilizer application and irrigation control based on simultaneous measurements of the real and imaginary parts of soil permittivity. Jin and Jiang summarized their findings from a preliminary study on spatial variability of available nutrient content in agricultural fields. The variability was attributed mainly to management schemes under the ‘family responsibility system’ in China. In the paper of Li et al., an automated apple surface-defect sorting system was reported. A unique feature of the system was its ability to simultaneously inspect four sides of apples. The Guest Editors would like to express their sincere thanks to Dr Sidney Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, for his encouragement and his meticulous assistance with the editing process. We feel proud of the fact that this is the first special issue of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture with contributions entirely from a technical conference organized by Chinese scientists. Maohua Wang Research Center for Precision Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Qinghua Donglu, Beijing 100083, People’s Republic of China E-mail: [email protected] Naiqian Zhang Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Seaton Hall, Room 147, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA E-mail: [email protected]