CHANGSHA－At 7:30 pm, Yang Yuanzhu, who is in his late 50s, sat in front of a phone next to a lamp and started livestreaming to his followers in his thick local accent.

Yang is an agricultural expert and vice-president of Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture. He is also a popular social media broadcaster who attracts over 100,000 people to his livestreams.

As spring planting is in full swing, agricultural companies are sharing their experiences and expertise with farmers to help them use technologies to improve yield and productivity.

Yang is an expert in planting, and each year he goes into the fields to teach farmers new skills. However, this year, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, he has moved the lessons online.

Zhou Dongdong, a manager with Chinese machinery maker Zoomlion, goes into the fields to demonstrate to farmers how the company's seed thrower works. One training session that was planned to run for 40 minutes lasted over two hours.

"Learning to use, repair and maintain the machines have become new skill requirements for professional farmers today," Zhou said. "As companies, we need to conduct good training and win more customers."