After Sui Ruixiu, the USDA-ARS chief scientist and researcher, visited FIRI three times, in order to further strengthen international cooperation. After many times of communication and coordination, FIRI and USDA-ARS signed a bilateral cooperation framework agreement on July 17, 2018, to cooperate in the use of UAV remote sensing to develop and evaluate the image sensing technology of crop biological and non-biological traits, providing more technical and theoretical support for precision irrigation.

USDA-ARS is a research organization of the United States Department of Agriculture, the official agricultural research organization of the United States, which aims to research and solve problems in agricultural production. The agreement USDA-ARS and FIRI signed mainly involved the cooperation with Crop Production System Research Unit for joint research on agricultural problems in precision irrigation technology and theory.

The agreement provided a new platform and opportunity for the cultivation of international talents and technological innovation of FIRI, by which both sides strengthened the cooperation. And FIRI took another solid step in the international cooperation and exchanges. Next, both sides will focus on cooperation goals and carry out in-depth cooperation in joint test, international project cooperation and talent exchanges