"110.9 kilograms, 118.37 kilograms..." A group of pigs is dozing in the pen, and the breeder holds a portable intelligent weighing device and lightly scans the pigs. Without driving the pigs out of the pen, the weight of the pigs can be calculated in less than 5 seconds, with efficiency increased by more than ten times compared to the past, and effectively reducing biosecurity risks.

Now, the support of "black technology" has become the norm for "smart pig farming". From weighing to feeding, physical examination, epidemic prevention and other aspects, digitalization is fully unfolding, helping the pig farming industry to improve quality and efficiency.

At the New Hope Agricultural Smart Pig Farm in Chengdu, Sichuan, many commercial pigs have reached the weight for sale and are ready for sale at any time. The breeder said to the reporter that the traditional weighing method requires driving or dragging pigs to the scale, which takes a lot of trouble every time. It is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also easy to cause stress reactions in pigs due to fright.

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Zhang Zhiyong, the person in charge of equipment research and development at New Hope Liuhe, introduced to the reporter that in order to manage more efficiently and finely, the New Hope scientific research team has developed a series of intelligent application instruments, including the third-generation portable weighing device. Without driving pigs out of the pen, as long as the breeder holds the device and lightly scans, the weight of the pigs can be measured in less than 5 seconds, and the weighing accuracy can reach 98%.

"The 'black technology' behind this is to establish a weighing model through big data, and then combine deep learning and computer vision algorithms to collect multi-dimensional information of pigs, obtain pig characteristics, provide accurate data for intelligent weighing algorithms, and quickly estimate the weight of pigs under different ages and breeding processes." Zhang Zhiyong said that the portable weighing device has solved the current pain points in the breeding process, such as the time-consuming and labor-intensive "scale driving pigs" and the easy-to-err "eyeball weighing". At the same time, it also provides important basic data support for fine feeding, feed number replacement, pig adjustment, and pre-sale control of feed.

It is reported that at present, scientific researchers are continuously optimizing the portable weighing device, striving to further reduce the weight of the device and improve the accuracy rate of the algorithm. "We hope to make the price lower, so that ordinary breeders and family farms can accept it, and let more partners in the industry chain enjoy the convenience of intelligence." Zhang Zhiyong said.

Not only the portable weighing device, but also digitalization is fully unfolding in feeding, physical examination, epidemic prevention and other aspects, promoting the continuous upgrading of pig farms in production management and biosecurity prevention and control.

"For the feeding management of free-range pigs, we have introduced the feed tower weighing network module, combined with the self-developed digital platform, to achieve automatic collection of feeding data and early warning prompts for abnormal upper and lower feeding, so that breeding personnel can remotely and accurately grasp the use of the feed tower and achieve efficient management." The relevant person in charge of New Hope introduced to the reporter that according to the calculation, using the precise feed tower weighing system can save 0.2‰ of feed. In addition, in the health management of pig herds in the pig industry, New Hope is piloting the introduction of needle-free injection equipment in pig farms, combining IoT functions and digital immunization platforms to achieve effective management of the immunization process.

In recent years, science and technology have become an important driving force for the economic growth of agriculture and rural areas. The latest data shows that the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress has reached 63.2%, providing strong momentum for the high-quality development of agriculture.

The No. 1 central document this year proposes to continue to implement the action of digital rural development, develop smart agriculture, and narrow the "digital divide" between urban and rural areas. The recent symposium on agricultural science and technology enterprises held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs pointed out that it is necessary to promote the two-way rush of scientific and technological supply and industrial demand, and strengthen the in-depth integration of industry, academia and research led by enterprises. Industry insiders said that in recent years, the in-depth application of IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies in the agricultural field has accelerated the exploration and development of new quality productive forces in agriculture, promoting more convenient agricultural production and more efficient management, and injecting vitality into the construction of agricultural modernization.