In the deep autumn of Enshi, Hubei Province, amid fields of lush green youyoucao (houttuynia cordata), farmer Lao Zhou no longer bends down to inspect each leaf for disease. He pulls out his phone, scans the AI recognition terminal at the edge of the field, and the screen immediately pops up a reminder: 'Localized risk of southern blight, recommend spraying biological agents.' This is an ordinary morning after the first large-scale deployment of an AI business system in the youyoucao production areas of Hubei and Chongqing.
As a well-known domestic enterprise specializing in herb cultivation and deep processing, the Youyoucao Group operates over 30,000 mu (about 2,000 hectares) of standardized planting bases along the Hubei-Chongqing border. In the past, management here relied entirely on farmers' experience and manual inspections, often missing the optimal prevention window during pest outbreaks. In September of this year, the Group partnered with an AI agricultural technology company in Chongqing to launch the 'Smart Herb Brain' project, embedding AI operations across three core segments: planting, processing, and supply chain.
On the planting side, the AI visual recognition system uses drones and ground sensors to monitor real-time chlorophyll levels, soil moisture, and pest density in the youyoucao fields. The deep learning model in the system's backend has studied over 500,000 local disease images, achieving a recognition accuracy of 92%. Technical director Li Min demonstrated to reporters: once the system detects an anomaly, it automatically generates a work order and pushes it to the farmer's phone, along with a matching organic pesticide formula. 'In the past, one agricultural technician struggled to manage 500 mu. Now, with AI assistance, one person can cover 2,000 mu,' Li Min said.
The intelligent transformation of the processing workshop is even more revolutionary. At the primary processing plant in Shizhu County, Chongqing, an AI visual sorting machine removes moldy and insect-infested youyoucao rhizomes at a rate of 120 kilograms per minute, improving accuracy by 15% compared to manual sorting and reducing loss rates by 8%. Plant manager Wang Jianguo told reporters that the system can also automatically adjust cutting parameters based on customer order specifications (such as rhizome length and diameter). 'Previously, for high-end export orders to Japan, we needed to specially train skilled workers. Now, AI switches standards with one click.'
On the supply chain side, AI business applications focus on price prediction and inventory optimization. The price of youyoucao fluctuates sharply due to factors like origin climate and market speculation. The newly launched AI model integrates historical prices, meteorological data, futures market sentiment, and logistics congestion indices for the Hubei and Chongqing regions, enabling it to predict procurement price fluctuation ranges seven days in advance. Procurement director Zhang Wei revealed that in October, the system issued a warning that 'continuous rainfall in the Chongqing production area would lead to a 12% production decrease.' The company subsequently locked in 300 tons of inventory in advance, avoiding a subsequent 20% price surge.
However, this AI transformation has not been without friction. At a pilot promotion meeting in Lichuan City, Enshi Prefecture, some veteran farmers resisted the idea of 'machines replacing experience.' The project team then adjusted its strategy: instead of mandating AI decisions, they displayed system suggestions as 'reference opinions' on the farmers' WeChat mini-programs and retained the right for manual override. Three months later, the proportion of farmers actively using AI suggestions jumped from 31% to 78%.
The deployment of AI operations in the Hubei-Chongqing youyoucao region may seem like a technological upgrade, but it is actually a microcosm of the transformation of traditional agriculture into a data-driven industrial internet. When AI is no longer just a model in the lab, but a warning message on Lao Zhou's phone, a precise sorting action in the workshop, or a price forecast on a purchase order, the story of youyoucao truly gains the immersive sense of 'revitalizing agriculture through technology.'
It is reported that the Youyoucao Group plans to replicate this AI system in five other production areas in Yunnan and Guizhou next year, and to open some algorithm interfaces to small and medium-sized growers. In the mist of the Hubei-Chongqing mountains, a two-way journey between grassroots and algorithms is quietly reshaping the genes of this ancient industry.