ANSO-CAS Joint Research Project Kick-off Meeting and 3rd Conference on Remote Sensing of Vegetation Pests and Diseases Successfully Held

Remote Sensing Monitoring and Forecasting of Global Epidemic

07 09, 2022

From 27 to 28 August, the kick-off meeting of the ANSO-CAS Joint Research Project entitled "Remote Sensing Monitoring and Forecasting of Global Epidemic and Migratory Agricultural Pests and Diseases" and the 3rd Conference on Remote Sensing of Vegetation Pests and Diseases were successfully held online. The conference was jointly organized by more than 50 institutions including Aerospace Information Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIR-CAS), Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS), PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS), CAB International (CABI), Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering (CSAE), Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZ-CAS) etc. Prof. CAO Jinghua, Executive Director of the ANSO Secretariat, attended the conference and delivered an opening remark.

Prof. CAO introduced the background, visions and networks of ANSO. He stated that ANSO has carried out extensive international cooperation in the field of food security, which is among its priorities. As the scientific control of vegetation pests and diseases is of great importance to food security and ecological safety, he hopes the project team can work closely with international partners through this conference to promote data sharing and technology innovation. Mr. ZHANG Bing, Vice President of AIR-CAS, Mr. FANG Guofei, Deputy Director of the Center for Biological Disaster Prevention and Control, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Mr. WANG Yingkuan, Executive Secretary of CSAE and Mr. ZHOU Jinfeng, Secretary of CBCGDF also attended the meeting and delivered speeches. They acknowledged the contribution of remote sensing monitoring and forecasting technologies for vegetation pests and diseases in the field of food security and ecosystem stability.

Experts and scholars from 35 institutions gave academic reports for this conference. Academician CHEN Jianping of Ningbo University analyzed the main problems of China's plant protection technology system, and proposed an initiative to reshape the plant protection technology innovation system and pointed out the important role of information technology in it. Academician LAN Yubin of South China Agricultural University introduced the development and application status of precision agricultural aviation, and presented the idea of building an eco-unmanned farm and gave an outlook on the future development model. Other experts including Academician Iqrar Ahmad Khan of PAS, Muhammad Naveed Tahir of PMAS, Deputy Director ZHU Jingquan of Pest Risk Analysis Center of National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center, Director LIN Kejian of Institute of Grassland Research of CAAS, and Deputy Director QIAO Gexia of IZ-CAS also made academic reports and thoroughly discussed such topics as vegetation pests and diseases habitat monitoring and risk forecasting, and products service in agricultural system. The conference launched a special issue entitled "Monitoring, Early Warning, and Scientific Management of Vegetation Pests and Diseases" in cooperation with the journal "Remote Sensing" (IF: 5.349).

Ms. DONG Yingying, associate researcher of AIR-CAS, presented the progress and milestones of the ANSO Project to the participants in this conference, with a view to promote the application of remote sensing technology in plant protection.

Source: DONG Yingying