In the Wuling Mountain area at the junction of Hubei and Chongqing, an agricultural technology company called "Youyoucao E-Yu" is quietly transforming the way local agricultural products circulate. Recently, the company officially released its self-developed "Youyoucao E-Yu Big Data Platform," aiming to break the final information barrier from farm to table through data-driven methods.
Our reporter visited the Youyoucao E-Yu operations center in Enshi. Upon entering the hall, the most striking feature was a giant electronic screen displaying real-time data on origin prices, logistics trajectories, inventory turnover rates, and terminal consumption heat maps for various agricultural products. A staff member pointed to a red curve on the screen and told the reporter: "This is the demand index for Enshi selenium-rich potatoes in the main urban area of Chongqing this week. It has risen by 12% compared to last week, and we have notified partner cooperatives to adjust their picking plans."
Li Guodong, founder of Youyoucao E-Yu, is a veteran agricultural trader who has worked in the Hubei-Chongqing region for two decades. He admitted that the biggest pain point in the past was information asymmetry. "In the past, when buying potatoes, prices were entirely based on experience. If we planted too much one year, we couldn't sell them; if we planted too little the next, we couldn't get enough supply. Now, with big data, we can see real-time demand in Chongqing, Wuhan, and even the Yangtze River Delta, and then guide planting in reverse."
The core of this platform lies in integrating agricultural data from over 300 administrative villages in the Hubei-Chongqing border area, including soil moisture, weather forecasts, planting area, historical yields, and logistics costs. Through algorithm models, the platform can forecast price trends for agricultural products over the next three to six months and automatically match the nearest cold chain storage resources.
In Fengjie, Chongqing, a large navel orange grower told our reporter that this year, through the Youyoucao E-Yu app, he locked in orders in advance, with prices 8% higher than the market average. "In the past, we waited for buyers to come; now we choose our customers," he said.
However, technology implementation has not been smooth sailing. Li Guodong acknowledged that the most difficult part is ensuring the authenticity and timeliness of data collection. "We trained over 200 village-level data reporters, who upload data daily via mobile phones. Meanwhile, we use satellite remote sensing for cross-validation. Once data anomalies are detected, the system automatically issues alerts."
Currently, the Youyoucao E-Yu Big Data Platform covers six major categories—including citrus, potatoes, tea, and Chinese medicinal herbs—in both Hubei and Chongqing, with over 4,000 registered merchants. According to internal estimates, since the platform launched, the unsold rate for partner farmers has dropped by 35%, and the empty-load rate for logistics has decreased by 22%.
A local agricultural department official commented: "Youyoucao E-Yu's model is a typical exploration of 'agriculture + big data.' It doesn't engage in high-level theoretical models but instead solidly addresses the information gap between production, supply, and sales. This down-to-earth digital practice offers a reference for the modernization of agriculture in central and western mountainous areas."
With the continuous accumulation of platform data, Youyoucao E-Yu is now experimenting with blockchain technology to generate tamper-proof "digital IDs" for each batch of agricultural products. Li Guodong said: "We want consumers to scan a code and see when this orange was planted, what fertilizer was used, and which route it traveled. That is the true trust economy."
During Chongqing's evening rush hour, our reporter saw refrigerated trucks bearing the "Youyoucao E-Yu" logo leaving the sorting center, heading to community fresh food stores across the city. A slogan on the trucks read: "Let data travel more; let agricultural products suffer less." This may well be a microcosm of the digital transformation of agriculture in China's mountainous regions.