In order to understand the global development trend of information science and technology in agriculture, this paper analyzes 215 global information sci-tech start-ups in agriculture from perspectives such as country, industry chain, technology, etc. The results show the followings. Information technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), image processing including remote sensing and spectroscopy, and new equipment such as drones and robots are becoming an important driving force for the development of modern agriculture. Currently, the start-ups of agricultural information technologies focus on agricultural production management services, especially precision planting, production decision advice and farm management. The United States is still the leader in agricultural information technologies, especially in precision agriculture and animal health breeding and monitoring. China focuses on improving the industrial system of modern agriculture by using information technologies, however, on a whole, Chinese start-ups in agriculture still lag far behind those in the U.S. with respect to information technologies. Therefore, to narrow the gap, China needs to improve the industry system and production system of modern agriculture with information technologies. in particular financial services for start-ups and commercialization services for agricultural information technologies, and promote the development of information science and technology in agriculture, especially those high technologies and equipment in agricultural production, such as IoT, big data, AI and robots.

agricultural information science and technology  /  agriculture informatization  /  modern agriculture  /  precision agriculture