Rice farmers going high-tech

Move ensures grain’s quality, improves sales

NANCHANG: For data-sensitive customers, detailed information about the origins of a product can be a strong selling point.

In Fengcheng City in east China’s Jiangxi province, rice farmers cooperate with meteorological experts to plan cultivation and sales of their crops.

Scanning a QR code on a package of rice can reveal much about the product’s early life, such as the amount of rain, humidity, hours of sunlight and groundwater temperature it was exposed to, reassuring buyers of the rice’s quality.

Lei Yingguo was one of the first farmers to access the data-sharing service from the local meteorological bureau, which installed monitoring equipment around rice paddies to collate real-time data.

Lei grows 1,200ha of rice in Leifang village of Xiushi township.

“The climate accreditation service helps our rice sell,” he said.

“Other rice sells for 16 yuan (RM9.90) per kilo, but mine sells for twice the price.”

Lei gained success by closely following weather conditions, though he learned the hard way.

In 2008, he contracted 120ha of land, but 11 days of consistent rain killed almost all of his harvest.

“Over 165,000kg of rice grew mildew. I lost 110,000 yuan (RM66,500) to the harsh weather,” he said.

Lei then subscribed to weather forecast texts sent to his phone every day to help him cope with the weather.

The fields he contracts are in hilly zones where rice needs two or three more weeks than regular types of rice.

“The longer vegetative period yields hardier crops and enriches the mineral content in the rice.

“The rice is irrigated with mountain water or groundwater, giving it a chewy quality favoured by a lot of customers,” he said.