Agri-Tech in China Newton Network
The Agri-Tech in China: Newton Network develops and supports new UK-China agritech partnerships to address the challenges facing modern agriculture.
Partners and Shared Learning
A Network+ project supports the human side of collaboration as well as the technical side. Its role includes communication between partners, building new relationships, and helping projects grow into commercial activity. Partnerships are most useful when they lead to shared knowledge, and the Network's work reflects that principle at every stage.
Periodic events give partners a chance to share results and ideas, and to agree on new initiatives. Information about the organisations involved can be found on the Partners page, and the wider context of the programme is described on the About page.
Satellite, Sensor and Robotics Expertise
Satellite imaging and remote sensing give growers a view of crop health and soil conditions across areas that would be slow and costly to survey on foot. Smart sensors placed in the field can add detail, recording moisture, temperature and other conditions that help explain what the imagery shows. Robotics and data-intensive science then turn these streams of information into decisions that can be acted upon.
The Network brings these disciplines together so that no single technology is treated in isolation. A project might combine an orbital image with ground readings and an analytical model, giving a clearer picture than any one source could provide alone. This joined-up approach is central to the Network's aim of enhancing productivity and sustainability.
How Projects Are Organised
The Network's activities are grouped into a mix of smaller UK-China projects and larger independent projects. Each one brings together business, academia and end-users, so that technical development is matched by an understanding of how new products and services will be used on farms. Joint development is a defining feature, with partners from both countries contributing to design, testing and refinement.
Explore the current portfolio on the Projects page to see how these collaborations are taking shape. Each project is expected to move from an initial idea towards products, processes or services that can be used beyond the original team, supporting the Network's goal of greater self-sustainability in agriculture.
Resources and Opportunities
Researchers, growers and businesses who want to understand the Network's approach can turn to its resources, which document the methods, tools and findings emerging from joint work. These materials help newcomers see how UK and Chinese partners have approached shared challenges, and they give existing partners a reference point for their own projects.
Opportunities to take part are listed on the Opportunities page, and details of upcoming gatherings appear on the Events page. Updates from the wider community are published on the Blog, so readers can follow developments as they happen.
Where the Network Works
The Network operates across two countries, linking research groups, technology developers and farming communities in the UK and China. Its work starts from practical agricultural problems, such as uneven crop yields, water use and the difficulty of monitoring large areas of land. Partners then decide which space-enabled tools, from satellite imaging to ground-based sensing, might help solve those problems in a particular setting.
This focus on rural China means that projects are shaped by the conditions farmers actually face, including varied terrain, small landholdings and limited access to data. By bringing UK expertise into direct conversation with local end-users, the Network aims to produce solutions that are tested in the field rather than only in the laboratory.
Questions about the Network or how to get involved can be sent through the Contact page.
Latest News
Open Innovation Workshop a success in Shandong
Network+ building a legacy for the future
Read more updates on the News page.
Sign up for updates
The Network translates UK excellence in satellite imaging, remote sensing, smart sensors, robotics and data-intensive science into new space-enabled solutions for enhanced productivity and sustainability in rural China. The Network is part of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council's portfolio of innovation programmes, coordinated by staff at STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK.
The Network consists of a growing portfolio of projects and activities that bring together business with academia and end-users across the UK and China through joint development of innovative products, processes and services to enhance self-sustainability.
With 40 smaller UK-China projects funded by the Agri-Tech in China Network+ and five larger independent projects, we're working to innovate new satelite-enabled technologies for better agriculture in the UK and China. A "Network+" project supports communication, development of new partnerships and projects, and commercialisation, and runs periodic events to share results and ideas, and develop new initiatives.