Smartphones emerging as main farming tools in China
Beijing, July 10 : With 96 per cent of China's villages connected to the Internet and each rural household having on an average three mobile phones, the sickle and hoe have been replaced by the smartphones and apps as the country's emblematic farming tools.
In east China's Jiangxi province, smart greenhouses with watering and fertilising controlled via mobile phone are a rage.
In a demonstration greenhouse covering 5,000 square metres in the city of Yingtan, most work is done by a system of perforated plastic pipes combined with sensors to monitor temperature, air humidity, mineral content and water content of the soil.
"Everything is controlled by a cellphone app," said Wei Yulong of Dongrui Industrial, which developed the system.
"The system delivers water and fertiliser directly to the roots of the plants," Yulong added.
The polythene that covers the greenhouse can also be adjusted according to the sunlight. This and another 200 agriculture projects are backed up by a provincial Cloud platform.
According to the Jiangxi provincial agricultural department, 59 out of 100 county-level cities are covered by the network, which also helps the local government monitor food safety and rural e-commerce development.
More than 20,000 rural families are registered at the platform.
China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs wants smart phone applications to be widely used in agriculture and has set up demonstration bases to help farmers get familiar with the latest gizmos.
"I can use my cell phone to monitor and control conditions in my greenhouse, orchards and fish ponds, from anywhere in the world," said Chen Yuping, General Manager of Dongrui.
In fish ponds, for example, the oxygen pump used to be controlled manually in accordance with temperature changes. Now? Just leave it to the app.
With over a billion people connected to 4G networks in China, mobile Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud computing, and Big Data have transformed farming.
In Ruichang, Jiangxi, a mobile app, synced with an insect light trap, monitors pests.
"After trapping the insects, the mobile app identifies them and counts them. An analysis report is sent in every 30 minutes," said Fan Jingsong, head of the city's agricultural plant protection station.
The application has revolutionised the station staff's work. Previously, they had to go into fields to study the pest situation, regardless of the weather. The work was tough and the accuracy low.
Three Internet-linked pest monitoring systems have been set up in Ruichang and three more will be built soon. "When all the facilities are ready, farmers can use their own mobile phones to check on pests in their farms," Fan said.
Since 2015, training and competitions have been held to encourage farmers to get familiar with the latest farming apps.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
