4th Global Agricultural Culture Exchange and Learning Conference “From Ziquejie Terraces to the World” Opens in Loudi, Hunan

More than 300 policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders gathered this weekend in the green hills of Xinhua County, Hunan Province, for the opening of the 4th Global Agricultural Culture Exchange and Learning Conference, “From Ziquejie Terraces to the World”, held alongside the 10th East Asian Agricultural Heritage Symposium.

Participants included representatives from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), delegates from various Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites worldwide, leading academics from Chinese and foreign universities, as well as representatives from civil society groups and private enterprises.

Organised under the theme “Technology Empowering Agricultural Heritage, Youth Together Creating the Future,” the conference featured keynote speeches exploring how cutting-scale innovations can breathe new life into centuries-old agricultural traditions.

Speakers included Jérémy Mbiaramadji, Senior Coordinator of the GIAHS Secretariat at the FAO; Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Project Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Future Initiatives and Honorary Chair of the East Asian Agricultural Heritage Studies Association; and Lee Youn-Jae, Professor at Pusan National University and Vice Chair of the East Asian Agricultural Heritage Studies Association. Their presentations covered biodiversity conservation, the role of heritage sites in rural revitalisation, and emerging models for integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism—all based on recent research and real-world case studies from across East Asia.

Carved into mountain slopes more than two thousand years ago, the Ziquejie Terraces stand as a living monument to the fusion of southern Chinese rice agricultural civilisation with the hunting and fishing traditions of the Miao and Yao peoples. Recognised as one of China’s first World Heritage Irrigation Structures and a registered GIAHS site, the terraces continue to sustain local communities to this day.

In recent years, Loudi City has implemented Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, big data analytics, and virtual reality to monitor and preserve the landscape. Innovative programmes—ranging from “adopt-a-paddy-field” schemes and blockchain-tracked rice farming to immersive agricultural study tours—have transformed heritage conservation into a driver of economic opportunity, connecting local villages with a global audience eager to learn from millennia of sustainable agricultural wisdom.