Small to medium-sized commercial farms are increasing in China from an amalgamation of smaller, non-commercial family plots. It is desirable to support these farms to support rural economies. These farmers are now farming larger areas and fields to which they have no historical connection.
Fertiliser use is increasing annually in China, however, over-application and subsequent environmental impacts are common and the Chinese Government will cap fertilizer usage in 2020 to curb this problem. Precision Farming has an essential role to play in increasing fertiliser use efficiency on farms. This will increase production efficiency (profitability) as well as reduce environmental footprint of agricultural practices linked to fertilizer use.
More efficient fertilizer use (and agronomic practice) requires information on the environment production systems and on the development of the crop, at a high spatial resolution. This information, particularly high-resolution soil information, is not common in Chinese production systems.