China’s
leading technology company, Alibaba, is working with Chinese pig producer Dekon
Group and feed manufacturer Tequ Group to develop artificial intelligence
systems to track pigs.
The deal announced
earlier this month is worth tens of millions of dollars and will rely on video
monitoring to replace radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags.
The
cameras will identify and track numbers tattooed on the animals’ bodies.
It
will not only count pigs, but also in Alibaba’s plans is monitoring temperature
readings from infrared sensors, daily movement and sound sensors to detect coughing
to alert staff to the potential outbreak of diseases.
The aim
is to lower production costs, and ensure production of “safe, tasty pork,” said
Zhang Sheng with Alibaba.
The
advancement of technology in agriculture is leap frogging.
Cargill
recently started testing facial
recognition for dairy and beef cows.
Blue
River Technology’s See and Spray can detect and identify weeds
in the field, spraying one and avoiding another.
