Sinochem Agriculture, Alibaba to establish 10-15 nationwide digital agricultural bases

On 30th June, Syngenta Group China MAP & Digital Agriculture Division (Sinochem Agricultural MAP) and Alibaba Digital Agriculture Division (Ali Digital Agro) signed a cooperation agreement to plan the establishment of 10 to 15 digital agricultural bases in China over the next three years, focusing on digital agriculture related to rice, apple, citrus, grape, strawberry, kiwi fruit and citrus.

In February 2019, Jack Ma (Chairman of Alibaba) led a delegation consisting of 24 senior executives that visited the Sinochem Group to discuss the agricultural sector with Ning Gaoning (Chairman of Sinochem and Chairman of Syngenta Group) and Qin Hengde (President of Syngenta Group China). Both sides decided to jointly develop the “production and marketing-interlocked contract farming mode” to cover the industry chain from planting to terminal sales, which will help advance the production and distribution system of Chinese farm products.

Sinochem and Alibaba successively launched a series of projects and have cooperated in the business development of strawberry crops and Xiaozhan rice. The joint establishment of a digital agricultural base is another example of the cooperation between the two sides. The close cooperation between Sinochem Agriculture MAP and Alibaba includes the establishment of digital agricultural bases, contract farming, direct sourcing and agricultural brand development, as well as the establishment of 10 to 15 nationwide digital agriculture demonstration bases over the next three years.

According to the cooperation agreement, Sinochem Agriculture MAP will offer an entire course planting solution based on scientific plantation, sustainable development, whole process quality and safety control, and green and clean production. Via the “MAP Beside” quality assurance and brand image initiative, a whole process traceability control system for the contract farming mode will be developed, which will ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products.

Combining Alibaba’s digital agricultural product distribution network, which is backed up by its "origin warehouse + sale warehouse" distribution mode, consumers can access safe, high-quality, fresh and delicious agricultural products without the use of swelling agents and ripening agents.

Sinochem's Agricultural MAP strategy is a collaborative model that combines online and offline operations. A smart agriculture platform was established online while a technical services center and demonstration farming have been set up offline, which will help facilitate digitalized agricultural whole process management and control. So far, Sinochem Agriculture has built and operated 195 MAP technical services centers and 482 MAP farms throughout the country, and established two digital agricultural platforms, MAP apps.

As two industry leaders in their respective sectors, the in-depth cooperation between Sinochem and Alibaba is expected to break through the agricultural industry chain. In the future, both sides will work together to integrate and consolidate their respective resources to complement each other, as well as to explore new methods of cooperation. As a result, the integration of high-quality agricultural products with new marketing modes can be realized, which will improve planting management, achieve optimization and upgrade the modern agricultural industry chain and supply chain.