Suichang county – administered by the city of Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province – has a rich history of gold mining stretching back more than 1,300 years, but is now embarking on a new path to wealth. 

Jiaochuan village in Suichang is the core area of the largest hybrid rice seed production base in Zhejiang. In 2020, the village had 1,237 mu (about 82.47 hectares) of land under cultivation and produced 210 tons of seed worth 5.17 million yuan ($798,216).

Moreover, the income from seed production accounted for 90 percent of the per capita income of the villagers.

This year, farmers with decades of experience in rice seed production made some new "friends" from  e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, whose staff brought in cutting-edge technology to help them monitor the whole growing cycle of the rice – from seedlings to maturity, as well as the overall cultivation environment.

The facilities set up around the rice farms are equipped with air temperature and humidity sensors, air PM2.5 sensors, light sensors and can read soil temperatures, soil conductivity, soil pH values, carbon dioxide content and other key soil indicators in order to conduct exacting analysis, according to Sun Xiaoguang, an engineer from Alibaba.

To say the locals are appreciative is an understatement.

"Seed production is like an open-air factory. Natural disasters and weather changes can affect the yield and quality of seed production directly," said farmer Cheng Yuanping.

"In the past, we often had to go down to the field to see how the rice was growing. Now I can see the rice fields on the big screen in the village command center."

It is expected that the output of hybrid rice seed in Jiaochuan village will increase by 15 percent this year and achieve sales revenue of 7.8 million yuan.