In Limpopo province, South Africa, the use of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is transforming traditional farming methods. The introduction of technologies based on the BDS is helping local farmers overcome weather constraints and injecting new impetus into the modernization of South Africa's agriculture.
Upgrading traditional farming
Limpopo province is an important food-producing region in South Africa, and agricultural production has long been limited by low levels of mechanization and a waste of resources due to climate change. How to improve efficiency, reduce costs and cope with extreme weather have been an urgent need for local agricultural development.
To address these issues, in December 2021, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO) signed an MoU for cooperation in satellite navigation. Limpopo province was selected as the first pilot area for digitised agriculture.
In September 2024, the China-Africa Joint Laboratory for BDS and Remote Sensing Applications was officially launched. In October that year, the first data receiving station was installed and operated at the farm of University of Venda (UNIVEN).
Through the deployment of Beidou ground-based augmentation stations, intelligent terminal equipment and technical training, the BDS has brought profound changes to South African farmland.
Smart agriculture
Applying the BDS to crop field management can realize real-time monitoring of crop growth, fertilization and insect pests, and minimize the impact of natural disasters, said Ms Thifheli Gloria Kutama, experimental farm manager in the faculty of Science Engineering and Agriculture of UNIVEN.
When the navigation system works with intelligent agricultural machinery, it can achieve linear sowing with centimeter-level accuracy according to the preset path, avoiding duplication or omission, and greatly improving the utilization rate of seeds, said Kutama.
Meanwhile, agricultural machinery equipped with soil composition sensors can analyze the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in real time, and apply fertilizer variably on demand to reduce the amount of fertilizer used.
Another important function is smart irrigation and disaster warning. Relying on BDS positioning and remote sensing data, farmland can be divided into multiple grids. As the humidity sensors transmit the data to a cloud platform, farmers can remotely control irrigation equipment via a mobile phone app, which significantly reduces water consumption.
The system can also use meteorological satellite data to provide advance warning of drought or heavy rainfall, allowing farmers to adjust their farming plans in time.
Crop growth data is recorded on the platform, and consumers can understand the whole production process by scanning a QR code.
Technical training
Local farmers who benefited from smart agriculture and digital economy have become the main force in promoting the application of the BDS in agriculture. Kutama expected that local government to carry out practical promotion of BDS technology, which will attract more farmers to gain access to the BDS.
UNIVEN's digital agriculture training course is popular, with up to 400 trainees attending each lecture, Kutama said.
The Green Technology Confucius Institute at UNIVEN has been carrying out various forms of cooperation such as international Chinese education, joint training of international personnel, joint scientific research and technology transfers, with green technology as the main task.
The application of the BDS is not only a technological upgrade, but also an important opportunity to promote the integration of South Africa's agriculture into the global digital wave, said Kumata.