Smart Brain for Pig Farms was Launched by Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, has already launched its smart brain for use in pig farms very recently at a technological event in Shanghai, China.

The proprietary ‘ET Agricultural Brain’ was shown at the The Computing Conference 2018: Shanghai Summit. According to the company in a press release, the artificial intelligence (AI) programme has been adopted already by a number of leading pig farming and fruit and vegetable growing enterprises in China.

Only recently, the news broke of the development of the concept.

Artificial intelligence technology

The press release stated: “ET Agricultural Brain builds upon the success of Alibaba Cloud’s self-developed AI technology that has been applied in the smart city, transportation, industrial and aviation sectors, and extends its application to agriculture.”

Through artificial intelligence, every pig can be recognised and monitored real-time. The pigs in this picture are not related to the Alibaba project. Photo: Henk Riswick

Through artificial intelligence, every pig can be recognised and monitored real-time. The pigs in this picture are not related to the Alibaba project. Photo: Henk Riswick

The press release goes on to explain: “By applying AI technologies such as visual recognition, voice recognition and real-time environmental parameter monitoring, ET Agricultural Brain monitors each hog’s daily activity, growth indicators, pregnancy and other health conditions, bringing more insight throughout the pig farming industry chain.

Monitoring pig farms in real time

“By processing data and training algorithm models based on machine learning technology, ET Agricultural Brain allows farm managers to monitor the farm and the animals in real time. For example, the system will automatically prescribe a plan of activity for hogs that need to improve the health and yield of hogs.

“The programme will also be able to detect sick hogs and minimise accidents, such as protecting piglets from accidents through the introduction of voice recognition technology. Multiple meters are installed to collect data in order to optimise the environment for the herd to grow, as well as reducing human errors in the farming process.”

PSY can be as high as 32

According to Alibaba Cloud, the new system could increase a sow’s annual production by 3 more newborns, while reducing unnatural death by 3%. Pigs per sow per year (PSY) is estimated to be increased to 32.

Alibaba Cloud is not the only company working on automated recognition for swine farms. Earlier this year, Yingzi announced to be working on facial recognition technology for pigs.