XAG launches the R80 agricultural utility vehicle at the conference on smart agriculture held in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Zhang Hongpei/GT

With China's pursuit of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, agriculture, which is usually deemed as a weakness in the process, has entered a new era featuring digital and targeted technologies, an opportunity that cannot be missed, agricultural experts said on Thursday.

Guan Ruijie, a research fellow at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, told a conference on smart agriculture that it is significant to achieve a complete industrial chain for agricultural products.

"Practice has proved that smart technology has begun to be fully applied in traditional agriculture, and the direction will focus on simplicity, convenience, standardization and more societal participation," Guan noted.

More participation by society in the agriculture sector - directly or indirectly - would be the key for its reform, according to Guan. He cited the example of the US, where a tiny portion - about 2 percent of its population - are directly involved in agriculture, but about 20 percent of the population are involved indirectly.

A number of trends and emerging technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence are set to radically re-shape the future of agriculture by improving efficiency, output and profitability, according to a report released by London-based consultancy firm Clear Strategy on Thursday during the conference. 

Digitalization along with blockchain technology will be deployed to enhance the visibility, transparency and traceability of the supply chain, the report said.

As traditional agriculture has golden opportunities to transform, high-tech companies are also seeking huge potential space to grow their business in the area. 

Chinese agricultural dronemaker XAG, which is based in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, launched a new product, the R80 agricultural utility vehicle, at the conference. 

The product utilizes core technologies including centimeter-level positioning, smart data records and edge computing.

As of September 20, more than 42,000 XAG agriculture drones had operated for nearly 4 million hours under the guidance of 56,000 trained controllers, the company said.

In November, XAG and Airbus announced the joint development of a drone cargo service.