Smart farming yields solutions

Remote-controlled drones spray pesticide at a tea plantation in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province, on May 24. Technology companies are providing products and services that are both cutting-edge and affordable for agriculture.

HONG KONG — As heavy snow swept across China early this year, local media in Central China’s Hubei province reported that farmers used unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to spray de-icing agent, saving over 500 snow-covered vegetable greenhouses from collapse.

In the midst of climate change, technology is enhancing the resilience of the agriculture sector to weather and climate extremes, helping it face the challenges of producing more food to feed the world’s growing population.

“Farming, being highly dependent on rainfall, soil health and temperature, is most vulnerable to change in climate,” said Raj Paroda, former director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and a senior adviser of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions