AgroPages-Plant protection UAV international standards conference held in Canada, voice from China recognized by international organizations-Agricultural news

The plant protection UAV international standards workgroup (ISO/TC23/SC6 WG25) held a conference in Hamilton, Canada, from June 24 to 29, 2018, where experts and representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Japan, Korea and China participated.

Professor He Xiongkui of the Spraying and Application Research Center of the China Agricultural University attended the conference on behalf of member-country China.

The experts of the work group had in-depth discussions on the WG25 plant protection UAV pesticide application technique and technical standard, as proposed by the ISO/TC23/SC6 group. After intensive discussions, the scope and framework of the UAV plant protection applications were made clear, which led to the formation of the UAV Plant Protection Applications Draft, based on the comments from member-countries.

The workgroup also made the first revision of the UAV Plant Protection Applications Draft. China, Japan and Korea are the main countries engaged in research, production and application of plant protection UAV, as well as the main drafting countries of the UAV Plant Protection Applications Draft. The representatives of the three countries each gave a presentation on the plant protection UAV applications. He Xiongkui, as an ISO/TC23/SC6 member and Chinese representative, delivered the theme report, “The UAV Chemical Application in China.”

The report gave a briefing of China’s developments in standardization of plant protection UAV applications and suggests an urgent formulation of series of international technical standards for plant protection UAV applications. The ideas in the report received a positive response from experts present at the conference. China’s proposal covered UAV spraying specifications and flight parameters, plant protection parameters, spraying techniques of different pesticide formulations. The proposal was admitted to WG25 - UAV chemical application as a new standard, which will be revised by WG25, considering China’s comments, to be amended at the next work meeting.

At the conference, it was decided that the workgroup would build a liaison mechanism with international organizations such as the ICAO and JARUS. The Chinese UAV expert, He Xiongkui, was appointed China liaison officer of WG25 workgroup with JARUS.

China’s leading role in the standardization process of international plant protection UAV applications was further established at the conference, which also was a good foundation for China’s formulation of its national plant protection UAV application standard. As a primary member of the ISO, China is determined to continue its developments in standardization of plant protection UAV applications and share with international institutions its experiences in plant protection UAV applications including the achieved research results and the process of formulation of technical standards.