Big Data Is Revolutionizing the Agricultural Sector in Guizhou, China

GUIYANG, China, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by Huanqiu.com on Big data Revolutionizing the Agricultural Sector in China.

Having finished work for the day, a Shenzhen-based engineer, Luke Yang opens the refrigerator and grabs some sweetcorn. He smothers maize with a sauce of cream cheese and baked it in a preheated oven. In front of a tablet, Yang enjoys his tasty meal and giggles at the short videos.

At the same time, NadimTong, a farmer in Danzhai County, Guizhou Province also sits in front of the tablet, checking his online sales. Luke and Nadim have never seen each other before, but e-commerce makes possible the correlation between them.

The organization Nadim works for is Guizhou Yo Yo Green Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. As a leading e-commerce company, it leverages technology, especially big data, to boost productivity and profitability. The ensuing revenue growth has hauled more and more local farmers out of poverty.

During the past few years, Guizhou has advocated the intersection of big data and the farming industry. Similar to Yo Yo Green, a multitude of rural enterprises in Guizhou have also embraced the data-driven solutions to run an agricultural business.

Basically, big data can assist the value chain optimization, plug the lacunae in the supply and demand gap. As for the traditional farming industry, peasants send their harvest to a grocer or department chain. Such a model may cause the supply-demand imbalance as it is not always possible to know precisely how much a particular crop should be ready.

However, a large volume of agricultural corporations in Guizhou now apply big data to tackle that challenge. Meitan Qinyuanchun Tea Co. LTD. could be a case in point. Equipped with big data, peasants better track the consumer trend and cushion themselves against the vagaries of markets.

"The highly-specific customer set tailors product offerings to satisfy consumers' needs, aiding our strategic decision-making. Our farmers can adjust their production based on market demand, or rather, cut excess waste by growing less tea in low demand and use the space to grow alternatives," Jiwei Zhao, the president of Meitan Qinyuanchun Tea Co. LTD told the reporter of Huanqiu.com.

Xiuwen Kiwifruit Industrial Technology Zone harnesses big data to boost productivity.

Zhao continued, "Thanks to the database and e-commerce, one mu (666.67 square meters) of tea currently generates 5,000 yuan (706 US dollars), with an increase of 1,000 yuan (141 US dollars)."

In addition to value chain efficiency, the local farming industry also harnesses big data to boost productivity. Agriculture always involves risk factors, such as unexpected natural disasters and crop diseases, which may destroy entire harvests and cause irreversible damage.

By comparison, armed with big data, farmers may no longer need to bear the brunt of such events. An increasing number of rural enterprises in Guizhou now utilize a data-driven assessment system to track crop health and evaluate the chances of disruptive events. Xiuwen Kiwifruit Industrial Technology Zone can be a role model.

"Our zone utilizes IoT devices installed on a farm to collect data including temperature, humidity, and pH value. In this way, we can monitor the field conditions and react to emerging issues instantly. The possible damage to crops could diminish to a minimum," said a staffer of Xiuwen County State-Owned Assets Investment and Management Co. LTD to the reporter of Huanqiu.com.

Due to the valid data collection, local farmers can gain unprecedented visibility into their operations. He added, "Based on the average output of 1,500 kg per mu (666.67 square meters), the cost-saving per mu reaches 2,000 yuan (283 US dollars). The kiwifruit in the whole county can thus increase the output value by about 360 million yuan (51 million US dollars)!"

It notes that farmers can derive insights from real-time big data to maximize the harvests. The main links of the kiwifruit zone involve 57,400 farmers. Their disposable income per capita averages 26,000 yuan (3,676 US dollars), 52% higher than their counterparts outside the zone. Owing to the improvement of rural livelihoods, this model drives greater efficiency in poverty-reduction programs.

Actually, the successful utilization of big data in various aspects of Guizhou's farming industry is inseparable from the government support. In recent years, Guizhou has accelerated the advancement of smart agriculture.

As the capital, Guiyang unswervingly advocates the application of big data to agriculture and pilots the deployment of IoT. To pave the way for smart agriculture, the government takes pains to build e-commerce platforms, improve the communication infrastructure and expand the talent pool.

According to Cyberspace Administration of China, in 2019, Guizhou constructed 49 county-level e-commerce operation centers and 8,601 rural e-commerce service stations, hence reducing the logistics cost by over 20%. Additionally, 90% of natural villages with more than 30 households in the province currently have access to the 4G network. The recent years also witnessed the development of Alibaba College of Guizhou Institute of Technology.

"Big data reshapes the entire agricultural economy. Guiyang values the intersection of big data and the farming industry, which could be an effective solution to poverty alleviation. Thanks to China International Big Data Industry Expo, the data-enabled agricultural model can be generalized to broader areas," Jun Wang, the Deputy Secretary of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation told Huanqiu.com.

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