Information Technology and Modern Agriculture Expo 2010, co-organized by Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry and Information, was held in National Agricultural Exhibition Center on November 20-22. Agriculture and Environment Sector of IRSA participated in this exposition, promoting its agriculture-related remote sensing products including “China CropWatch System” and “ET Watch System”.

The China CropWatch System (CCWS), developed by IRSA, has been operational since 1998. The CCWS monitors crop growing conditions, crop production, drought, crop plantation structure and cropping index, covering China as well as 46 main grain growing countries around the world. After more than 10 years operation and improvement，CCWS is currently one of the three most advanced crop monitoring systems with remote sensing in the world, as well as the model system in agriculture remote sensing monitoring system of GEO. It provides information for various government bodies including the State Council，Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce， State Grain Administration，and State Statistics Administration．

China CropWatch System can provide customized service for regions, provinces, and even prefectures. Currently IRSA has cooperated with Jiangxi, Hubei，and Heilongjiang, operating this system and releasing specific monitoring data for these provinces.

The evapotranspiration remote sensing monitoring system (ETWatch), developed in 2008, was used for the assessment, planning and allocation of water resource. It currently has been integrated into World Bank-funded water management project,extensively applied at the basins of Haihe, Turpan, Heihe, and Shiyanghe.

 “Drought Watch Remote Sensing System”, also developed by IRSA, has been operational since 2005, providing customized drought information for various governmental bodies including Ministry of Water Resources, and National Disaster Reduction Center of China. Its “GroundWatch System”, has been extensively applied in the investigation of crop plantation structure, ecology parameter, and soil erosion. 

IRSA also exhibited remote sensing monitoring products about agricultural natural disasters, which aroused keen interests and gained recognition among agriculture-related agencies and enterprises. 

This exposition provided an opportunity of communication between IRSA and agriculture-related agencies and enterprises, through which IRSA recognized the latest needs from end-users, and adjusted its research direction accordingly.