The new Chinese pig farm: A database of every pig’s face; Voice scans that detect hogs with a cough: Robots that dispense just the right amount of feed. “Chinese companies are pushing facial and voice recognition and other advanced technologies as ways to protect the country’s pigs,” writes The New York Times (Feb. 25, 2019). In this Year of the Pig, many Chinese hogs are dying from a deadly swine disease, threatening the country’s supply of pork, a staple of Chinese dinner tables. China has already culled a million pigs (out of a population of 400 million), set up roadblocks and built fences, to no avail.
There’s a lot at stake. China is the world’s largest pig breeder and its largest pork consumer. The meat is so important that China has its own strategic pork reserve. With 10’s of millions of pig farms, the Chinese government has endorsed technology on the farm. Its most recent 5-year plan calls for increased use of robotics and network technology, saying it wants to promote “intelligent farming.” Officials praised “raising pigs in a smart way” using the A-B-C-Ds: artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and data technology.
Technology companies say they can help farmers isolate disease carriers, reduce the cost of feed, increase fertility, and reduce unnatural deaths. JD.com’s system uses robots to feed pigs the correct amount of food depending on the animals’ stage of growth. SmartAHC uses A.I. to monitors pigs’ vital statistics, and hooks up sows with wearable monitors that can predict ovulation time.
Chinese are quick to embrace high-tech solutions to just about any problem. A digital revolution has transformed China into a place where nearly anything can be summoned with a smartphone. Facial recognition has been deployed in public bathrooms to dispense toilet paper, in train stations to apprehend criminals, and in housing complexes to open doors.
Classroom discussion questions:
1. Why will this high-tech approach be difficult to implement?
2. What technology is used in American farming?