General review of intelligent agriculture development in China
China Agricultural Economic Review
ISSN: 1756-137X
Article publication date: 4 September 2018
Issue publication date: 15 January 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the development of intelligent agriculture (IA) in China, which is an important tendency in advancing the agricultural productivity in the coming era.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering publications as featured evidence of an emerging phenomenon, the authors review publications of IA. Specifically, the use of term, definition and examples of IA, both English and Chinese literature, and government policies of China are all reviewed. Additionally, the authors use basic statistical and thematic analysis to help synthesizing the literature and drawing conclusions. Findings from various sources of publications supplement with each other.
Findings
IA in China has shown three main characteristics: unbalanced geographic distribution, an early stage of the trend and attention mainly focused on a limited range of technologies. Compared with the development of IA in other countries, such as Japan, India and the USA, featured with diversified properties, similarities and differences of IA development in China and in other countries are also discussed.
Originality/value
This general review contributes by uncovering the emergence of IA, identifying its general definition with a comprehensive set of practical examples and pointing out the present characteristics and problems of IA development in China. The general review provides a necessary summary for the policy makers and researchers to have a systematic understanding of IA and better promote its future development. At last, the paper calls for a process-based strategy with different goals at different stages, a sustainable mechanism coordinated by multiple participants, and a localized consideration for relevant policy making.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 71473255 and 71673290).
Citation
Shi, L., Shi, G. and Qiu, H. (2019), "General review of intelligent agriculture development in China", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 39-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-05-2017-0093
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited