Tags: China, Satellite Positioning, Satellite Mapping,
Publication: Reuters.com
Publication Date: 02/05/2013

Rural farmer in China. Image credit: Hong Meen Chee

China has started a project to modernize its agricultural system by using new satellite technology. The pilot took place at a small village of Yangwang in the Anhui province of eastern China and mapped farmer’s land holdings in hopes that the project will help alleviate fears of food shortages caused by a growing population.

The mapping is a crucial task in making farmers feel safer and increase the possibilities for merging fields into larger scale farms.

"If we don’t do this now, and the older generation passes away, the next generation won’t know which plot is whose," Pan Shengyu, who oversaw one of Anhui’s land titling pilots, said to Reuters.

The results from the pilot in Yangwang, using satellite positioning, have been scaled up in other projects around the province and the government is looking to expanding it to a nationwide program.

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