Facial and voice recognition may become standard on Chinese hog farms. As African swine fever threatens China’s supply of pork, worried owners are turning to high-tech to try and control the problem. While some experts and farmers are skeptical, agricultural officials have praised “raising pigs in a smart way” using the A-B-C-Ds: artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and data technology.
Source: New York Times, February 24, 2019. Link. There’s a lot at stake. China is the world’s largest pig breeder, with a current population of about 400 million, and its largest pork consumer. The meat is so important that the country has its own strategic pork reserve in the event of a shortage.
INSIGHTS: Doubts about this technology’s efficacy and wariness of its cost compared to traditional identification methods are legitimate. However, whether in China or elsewhere, technology of all types will continue evolving to be part of improved production practices, especially disease prevention.