Plans are under way to host the seventh Asian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA) in New Zealand, in 2017.
The newly formed Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand (PAANZ) has not yet set the exact time or place for the conference but expects high numbers will attend from throughout Asia, New Zealand and Australia.
Lincoln Agritech Precision Agriculture group manager Dr Armin Werner said the opportunity to host such an event at this early stage showed PAANZ was internationally accepted and recognised as representative of New Zealand's community of researchers, developers, suppliers and practitioners of precision agriculture.
''Precision agriculture conferences are an important stage for presenting and discussing latest achievements in scientific research as well as in technical development,'' he said.
Lincoln Agritech is a foundation member of PAANZ.
Dr Werner said the use and adaptation of precision agriculture technologies was gaining momentum all over the world, he said.
''Drivers are the technologies that are 'embedded' in the tractors and implements [for example, GPS-based guidance, sensors within equipment] as well as data exchange over the cloud.''
The ACPA is one of the three large international conferences held regularly in various countries.
About 160 people attended the last conference in South Korea.
Because PAANZ also wanted to support precision livestock production it planned to organise the first Asian-Australasian conference on precision livestock farming to run in conjunction with the ACPA, Dr Werner said.
The conferences and symposiums would be complemented by field trips to show precision agriculture in New Zealand in practice.
There would also be excursions to research organisations and manufacturers in New Zealand involved in research and development of precision agriculture, he said.
The inaugural annual meeting of PAANZ is this afternoon at 4.30pm at the Ravensdown site at the Canterbury A&P Show.
The group was formed in April after a workshop and field day organised by PAANZ in Methven.
Interim chairman Peter Barrowclough said although it had been a ''long road'' setting up the association, developing its initial strategy, getting events under way and setting up the website, it was part of the ''foundations'' necessary to underpin a successful organisation.