Agricultural Brain: Alibaba Cloud develops digital tool to improve farming methods

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Farms in China are getting a whole lot smarter, thanks to Alibaba Cloud. It's developed a digital tool that could transform how farms operate -- and what's served at dinner. CGTN's Frances Kuo explains how it works.

Earlier this year, the Alibaba cloud service launched a traffic-management system called "city brain". It uses artificial intelligence software and helps Chinese governments to manage public transportation, security and environmental monitoring. Now Alibaba is stretching its reach from cities to rural areas -- with "Agricultural Brain".

DR. MIN WANLI CHIEF MACHINE INTELLIGENCE SCIENTIST, ALIBABA "For many years, the countryside has been forgotten by technology. China is dependent upon agriculture and the modernization of the countryside."

Modernization is playing a role in the development of this melon. Just a quick scan of its QR code -- and we know it's 90 percent mature -- and ready to eat.

DR. MIN WANLI CHIEF MACHINE INTELLIGENCE SCIENTIST, ALIBABA "We deploy all the sensor networks and the video cameras to capture the image and footage."

But this advanced system goes beyond just recording video. It's also about analyzing and applying the data.

Alibaba launched a pilot run -- using this pig farm. The firm farmed and raised pigs over a six-month period. each pig was given a digital ID. The data was then archived - used to detect sick hogs and what's ailing them -- and help improve the overall breeding environment.

The goal -- to increase a sow's production by three more newborns a year. alibaba cloud's president said in the future, what we'll want is a good pig that runs 200 kilometers instead of weighing 200 pounds.

The agricultural brain also reaches from the farms -- to our fingertips. The system makes the data available digitally allowing farmers to better track the entire production chain. New tools to help solve age-old problems. FRANCES KUO, CGTN.