China-UK Workshop on Utilizing Earth Observation and UAV Technologies for Crop Pest and Disease Control Held in Henan

A China-UK workshop on the project “Utilizing Earth Observation and UAV Technologies to Deliver Pest and Disease Products and Services to End Users in China” was held in Anyang, Henan Province of China on April 27-28, attended by more than 40 experts and scholars in the related fields. 
This project is geared to develop time-series tools for pest and disease monitoring, forecasting and management in China, providing service products at national and local levels to enhance pest and disease control of wheat rust and locusts in particular.
The project, supported by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) together with BBSRC Newton Agri-tech Joint Fund, is led by the CAS institute Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) as well as its UK partner Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).
WANG Jianjun, on behalf of Anyang Municipal Government, affirmed the significance and prospect of the project, and stressed that the project will play a significant role in safeguarding the food security of the region. Prof. HUANG Wenjiang from AIR mentioned that AIR as project leader, is striving to promote the project implementation, and to provide support for project management and communication. Dr. DONG Yingying from AIR introduced the project in terms of its research background, aims, key tasks and expected outcomes in crop pest and disease monitoring, forecasting and control. Belinda Luke of CABI, Prof. Wenjie Fan of PKU, Prof. Wenhua Chen of LU, Dr. Mark De Jong of KCL, Dr. Jingcheng Zhang of Waobot, Paul Webb and Dave Fooks of TEK, Yuyan Hu of QF, and Linyi Liu of AIR presented each work package’s key points and research plans.
The participants made field tours on the Anyang Demonstration Base for Wheat Remote Sensing Monitoring, and the Puyang Demonstration Base for Locust Control.
The project focuses on developing remote sensing data inputs, risk, loss and intervention models, monitoring and forecasting platforms for crop pest and disease, scheme-design for plant protection, UAV-based tools for smart use of bio pesticides, and developing business opportunities.
By pooling the expertise of China and UK partners in terms of earth observation technologies and plant protection, this project is planned to deepen research, to promote technology exchanges and cooperation between China and UK in the field of agricultural remote sensing, and to help Chinese farmers enhance capability of green control of pest and disease.