- Techno feudalism: a term first coined by Yanis Varoufakis in his 2023 book Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism, describes a rent-driven, technology-dominated society—echoing conditions similar to those that existed before capitalism, known as feudalism.The largest tech corporations have all launched initiatives in agriculture in recent years. But, among these tech giants, Microsoft is arguably the most heavily invested. The company says its ambition is to map and gather data on all of the world’s farms and to integrate them into its digital platforms. And, by “all”, Microsoft means not just all of the big industrial farms, but also all of the world’s 500 million small ones.“We want to take the technologies we are building to the smallholder farmers everywhere around the world,” says Ranveer Chandra, Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer for its Agri-Food division.[1]If Microsoft is sincere then it will clearly have to focus on India and China, where nearly two-thirds of the world’s small farms are located.This, at least with India, is already happening, and Microsoft's not the only tech corporation with its sights on the country's small farmers. In China, geopolitical tensions with the US over technology are keeping Microsoft and other US-based corporations out of the picture. But there are Chinese tech companies moving ahead with similar agendas there too.The rapidly expanding presence of these tech giants into agriculture raises many concerns for small farmers, not only in India and China, but the world over.Micro-serfs in IndiaIndia's agri-tech sector is booming. The number of agritech start-ups rose exponentially from 450 in 2019 to 6224 in 2023 and competition is fierce to build new apps to provide farmers with things like crop management advice or online marketing tools.[2] But these start-ups are not Microsoft's competitors. They are the building blocks for its cloud-- where all of its data is gathered and stored and then converted, with artificial intelligence, into digital products that it can sell.Microsoft gives Indian agritech start-ups free access and support to use its cloud of agriculture data, what it calls the Azure Data Manager for Agriculture (ADMA).[3] The start-ups can use the platform and its huge amount of data to build their models, and in return they generate deeper and more sophisticated data for Microsoft's cloud.Take, for example, Microsoft's 2016 partnership in the state of Andhra Pradesh with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).[4] Together they built an app that advises farmers on everything from when and what to plant and harvest, what fertilisers to apply, and how to harvest their crops. The app is hosted on Microsoft's cloud and powered by its AI tools while the data it utilises is gathered from sensors installed by "village advisory boards" established by ICRISAT to supply a constant stream of information on the soil health of the farms, the probability of pest attacks and the weather forecasting for the week. All this data is vacuumed up into the Microsoft cloud and aggregated with other data sources.In April 2021, Microsoft embarked on an even deeper data collection exercise, this time with India's central government.[5] The two sides agreed to use Microsoft's cloud services for the construction of a massive digital database, known as Agri Stack, containing detailed information about each farmer receiving government benefits-- from their land titles to their medical histories. And they also agreed, along with Microsoft's local partner CropData, to run a pilot project in 100 villages in which the companies would aggregate this personal farmer information with agricultural data to offer customised products and services for farmers. Critics say Microsoft will get access to the land records and other detailed information of at least 50 million farmers through the project!But Microsoft will not be generating products from this data to sell directly to India's farmers."Microsoft is not an agriculture company so we are not selling anything to farmers," says Ranveer Chandra. "We are providing the tools on top of which you could build solutions for farmers. Our partners are our customers."Meaning, Microsoft will use its massive access to data and its powerful AI tools to create products and services that corporations that do make money directly off of farmers will pay to get access to."There are companies that serve equipments and capabilities for farmers. We are working with most of the stakeholders, like generic crop protection and seeds company United Phosphorus Ltd and engineering conglomerate Escorts, to create better AI-based models for farming”, says Anant Maheshwari, Microsoft India President.[6]Currently, Microsoft's most important partner/customer is the world's largest seed and pesticide company, Bayer, which wants 100% of its sales to be done online by 2030. The two companies have been working together since 2021, and ramped up their collaboration in 2023 with a formal partnership that more fully integrates Bayer's digital platform (AgPowered Services) with Microsoft's Azure Data Manager for Agriculture. The two companies say they will be targeting food companies and retailers who can use the farm data analytics to have more information on the farms they buy from.[7]Shortly after Bayer announced its partnership with Microsoft, it signed a deal with the US commodity trading giant Cargill to bring their digital platforms together in India into a new app called Digital Saathi. The two corporations can now work together, via Microsoft's cloud services, to influence farmer decisions on what to plant, what inputs to use and how to sell their crops.[8]Another downstream partner/customer with an interest in Microsoft's Indian farm data is the UAE's largest free trade zone, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).[9] As part of the massive US$7 billion food security corridor, signed in February 2022 by India and the UAE, DMCC and Microsoft's local partner CropData established a digital platform called Agriota that is hosted on Microsoft's cloud. The platform enables UAE food companies to make purchases directly from Indian farmers, bypassing Indian buyers and markets. It also groups Indian farmers together to facilitate their access to credit and inputs and thereby facilitate supplies to the UAE companies.In both of these cases, it is evident how the monopoly control over farm data that Microsoft is quickly amassing in India will provide it and its corporate clients with increasing control over the country's small farmers: shaping their access to credit and government benefits, their crop production choices and what happens with their harvests. The only semblance of competition that Microsoft has in this endeavour is from other big tech cloud providers, like Amazon, which is pursuing its own strategy in India. (See box: Supermarkets, super monopolies)Table 1. Some of Microsoft's key partners in Indian agriculture Partners(start) Activity with MicrosoftInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (2016)App sends advice to farmers in local languages through SMS about ideal time to sow their crops.[10]United Phosphorous Ltd (2017)"Pest Risk Prediction" app uses AI and machine learning to warn farmers on risks of pest attacks.[11]Government of Karnataka (2017)Agricultural commodity price forecasting model for the Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission (KAPC) to provide improved price forecasting for farmers.[12]Escorts Kubota Limited (2018)Autonomous tractor that can seed, till and apply pesticides and fertilisers.[13]India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (2021)Agri Stack, a unified farmer service of the central government that will bring together personal information data on 50 million farmers and provide them with a digital interface for accessing extension services, credit, farm inputs and markets.[14]CropData and UAE's DMCC (2020)"Agriota" app to connect farmers to UAE bulk buyers on an online market platform.[15]Government of India, AI4Bharat and OpenNyAI (2023)AI-based chatbot, Jugalbandi, to help farmers access government assistance on their mobile devices.[16]Syngenta's macro-farms in ChinaMicrosoft is notably not pursuing the same strategy in China, where tensions over data and technology with the US are high. And the same is true for China's tech giants in India. So, instead, Chinese companies are focussing on farms in their home country, where there are hundreds of millions of them.As in India, there has been a huge surge in the number of start-up agri-tech companies in China over the years, rising from 1,208 in 2017 to more than 5,000 in 2023[17]. The companies are backed by national venture capital firms and by the state, which has not only invested heavily in 5G and other infrastructure, but provides large subsidies for agri-tech investments. But, also like in India, there are bigger players that have already carved out a dominant position. One of these is the Chinese pesticide and seed corporation Syngenta, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the state-owned company Sinochem.Syngenta launched its digital platform, the Modern Agriculture Platform (MAP), in 2017. Although China's agricultural landscape is dominated by small farms of less than one hectare, MAP is geared towards grain farms with an average farm size of 40 hectares and fruit orchards of around four to five hectares.[18]Farmers who enlist with MAP begin by downloading an app (Smart AGR) and, after the company collects soil samples, installing digital sensors on their farms, which, along with satellite remote sensing, provide a continuous flow of information about the farm to Syngenta. The app gives farmers remote access via the chat app, WeChat, to 3,000 agronomists working for the company across the country who advise them on what and how to plant. This advice is free, but under the agreements farmers sign in joining MAP, they must purchase their seeds, fertilisers and pesticides from Syngenta and Sinochem.MAP also provides farmers with advice on how to apply for financing and insurance and connects them directly through its app to financial companies that Syngenta partners with, such as the People's Insurance Company of China and the Agricultural Bank of China[19]. And, once the crops are harvested, it directs farmers to downstream MAP partner companies to buy the grains and fruits, such as the big state-owned grain companies like COFCO and Sinograin or e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com. It also offers these companies data on participating farmers through its MAP beSide traceability system and Panda Guide app which features high-end agricultural goods produced on MAP-subscribed farms.[20]Through MAP, Syngenta and its owner, Sinochem, are effectively pursuing the same strategy as Bayer and transforming themselves from farm input companies (seed, pesticides and fertilisers) to "whole-chain" companies selling services all along the food chain-- from the farm to the supermarket shelf.Syngenta had already established 628 MAP technical service centres across the country by the end of 2022, and claims to covers over 1 million farms on 13 million hectares of land. It says over 2.3 million farmers have signed up for its Smart AGR app.[21]Syngenta's MAP runs off of cloud services provided by top Chinese tech companies, like Baidu, Alibaba and Huawei that are rapidly developing AI capabilities and expanding into agriculture (see box: Supermarkets, super monopolies). While the extent of cooperation between Syngenta and these tech companies is not clear, Syngenta itself is pursuing a data collection strategy similar to Microsoft in India, working with state agencies to collect large amounts of farm and farmer data and then offering this data to other companies. In Huantai County, Shandong Province, for example, MAP developed a "Huannongbao" app with the local government that shares farmers’ data with 30 "agricultural service providers".[22]If Syngenta's digital platform is designed for larger farms, this does not mean it is not targeting smaller ones. In fact, one of the main objectives behind the platform is to facilitate the consolidation of small farms into larger farms, in line with the Chinese government's current policy for increasing domestic food production and food security and a recently created policy instrument called "land trusts".In China, farmland is managed by rural collectives who allocate a "right to use" to individual households with the community. Villagers who migrate to urban areas or who no longer want to farm for other reasons can transfer their "right to use" to neighbours or to a local farmer cooperative. The rights can also be leased to an external company through an agreement with the rural collective, villagers’ committee and local government. However, a "right to use" cannot be used as a collateral for a loan. So, if a company needs a loan for a large-scale farming operation, it requires a more formal arrangement, and this is where land trusts come in.Under a land trust arrangement, a "land trust company", which is usually a large state enterprise like CITIC Trust or Syngenta, acts as a broker: it secures a "right of use" to a large area of land from the rural collectives and then leases this out to another company or a cooperative, to whom it then provides access to loans. Often, especially in cases involving digital platforms, the land trust arrangement receives significant government subsidies.[23]Syngenta provides land trust services through its MAP division. In Anhui province, for example, its MAP division acquired a "right to use" over 660 hectares of community farmland and set up operations with 10 “professional farmers” who use its inputs and technology.[24] It also has a cooperation agreement with online retailer Alibaba (Ali Digital Agro) to establish 10 to 15 similar contract farming bases across the country for the production of rice and fruits.[25]Supermarkets, super monopoliesIt is no coincidence that most of the other big cloud service companies expanding into agriculture in China and India are online retailers that are also aggressively seeking to expand their market share in food sales. Digital agriculture platforms can provide these companies with direct access to farmers and food production and give them important farm data that can enhance their control over supply chains.Amazon, for instance, launched an Amazon Kisan mobile app for Indian farmers in 2019 which provides farmers with advice about crop production and about how to sort, grade, and pack produce for transport to Amazon's collection centres and its Amazon Fresh Stores.[26] The company also uses its digital platform to draw farmers into purchasing their inputs and tools from its Amazon Kisan Store or its other retail operations around the country.[27]In 2021, Amazon signed an agreement with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to build an "agri solution stack" digital platform that will utilise Amazon's cloud services and that will be based on ICAR's access to large volumes of farm and farmer data.[28] The two sides signed a further agreement in 2023 that essentially integrates ICAR's vast network of extension services with Amazon's digital platform and retail operations. Under the agreement, ICAR and Amazon will collaborate on designing and implementing ICAR's farmer engagement programs-- training farmers on crop production practices and how to market their products through Amazon's online platform.In China, all of the major online retailers are moving into agriculture and are developing digital platforms. One of the most aggressive actors is JD.com. Over the past few years it has made numerous investments in agriculture and signed several partnerships (see Table 2). And in April 2024 it announced a three-year investment plan of $1.3 billion (10 billion yuan) into agriculture.[29]Table 2. JD.com's agriculture investments Partners (year)ActivityMitsubishi (2019)JD.com and Mitsubishi Chemical open large-scale hydroponic farm in Tongzhou, China to supply JD.com's online and offline retail operations.[30]Sichuan Huisen Agricultural Science Group Co., Ltd. (2020)JD.com Digital Agriculture Chengdu Research Institute is launched in Sichuan Province to promote digital agriculture and establish a digital agricultural big data centre.[31]Forbon (2020)JD.com’s affiliate Beijing Jingdong Qianshi Technology sets up the Jingdong Farm Digital Agriculture Wuhan Research Centre with Chinese fertiliser company Forbon.Local government and mutton merchants (2023)JD.com establishes business with mutton merchants in Ningxia Province that will invest in sheep breeding, meat processing and logistics and supply its online marketplace. [32]Jilin Jingqishen Organic Agriculture Co., Ltd. (2023)JD.com and Jilin Jingqishen establish the first start-up Smart AI pig farm in Fusong County, Jilin Province. [33]Meicun Technology (2020)JD.com is a major shareholder in Meicun, a digital service platform that is also part owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings and the Chongqing China-Israel Agricultural Equity Investment Fund. The company's digital platform provides services for land transfer based on drone surveys, apps and digital mapping and has been involved in over 200 China Certified Emission Reduction Programme (CCER) carbon offset projects.[34] A real threat to farmersBig tech's expansion into agriculture in India and China is happening fast, with the full blessing and support of both governments. And it's moving along without any serious restrictions or transparency on the data these companies collect or regulations on the products that they and their partners produce with it. The corporate power in the sector is also camouflaged, with many small, seemingly independent tech start-ups working within a network that is ultimately controlled by a few tech giants. This puts small farmers in a very precarious position.On the one hand, farmers are being encouraged to sign-up to corporate controlled digital platforms through programmes that are subsidised by governments or even rolled out by governments and public agencies all too content to cut back on their extension services and substitute them with apps developed in partnership with big tech companies. These apps, as we see with Syngenta and Bayer, are designed to get farmers to rely on the advice they receive and to encourage farmers to use the company's products. While the services are sold as a way to give farmers more information, they actually contribute to de-skilling, encouraging farmers to rely on AI-generated advice and corporate inputs over their own local knowledge and seeds. Much like the Green Revolution of the 1970s that ensnarled India's farmers in an ongoing chemical treadmill and debt trap, this dependence on outside knowledge and corporate agri-products is a recipe for disaster.On the other hand, the data collected from farmers by the big tech companies can be used against them. The case of Syngenta's MAP in China shows how digital platforms can be used to consolidate small farms and transfer the lands to larger farming companies. It is also quite conceivable that cloud service companies like Microsoft and their corporate clients could use their access to farmers' land and financial records to grab lands from them, especially farmers facing debt issues. And, as we see with the case of the Bayer-Microsoft tie-up, the companies are already selling the data harvested from farmers to downstream food companies who can use it to more effectively squeeze farmers on prices and draw them into contract production arrangements.Jayachandra Sharma, a farmer leader from India's Karnataka Rajya Ryot Sangha farmer union, sees these developments and the digitalisation of agriculture as part of a broader strategy to push millions of farmers out of agriculture and make India’s food supply dependent on global finance and foreign corporations.[35] Given how companies like Microsoft, Syngenta, Amazon and JD.com are expanding, he could well be right.In India, farmers groups and civil society networks have started pushing back against these developments. They are speaking out against the Government of India and its public institutions like the Department of Agriculture or the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) for signing digital agriculture deals with companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Bayer that have a clear interest in promoting the sales of agri-chemicals and hybrid seeds. They also say that these collaborations signify a failure of public agriculture extension services. ICAR's MoU with Amazon Kisan to provide technical support to farmers through Amazon’s network is one clear example.According to Kavitha Kuruganthi of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) such deals can be viewed as a violation of the state's constitutional obligations in agriculture. “Have the extension departments of state governments been consulted about these MoUs? Agriculture is a domain of states as per the Indian Constitution.”[36]For all the talk about empowering farmers, the development of digital agriculture is happening without their involvement.[37]Then there's also the issue of how all of this impacts the climate. Processing and storing so much data requires a tremendous amount of energy, and thus generates a tremendous amount of greenhouse gas emissions (and requires a tremendous amount of water to cool down the machines!).[38] The data centres of the big tech corporations are already responsible for at least as much emissions as airlines – and that was before the AI boom began with ChatGPT last year. And with the ongoing ramp up in data centre construction to handle their AI push in agriculture and other sectors, the emissions from these centres are expected to more than double over the next five years.[39] This contribution to climate change will also have major impacts on small farmers.With the tech giants and their agribusiness allies rapidly exerting control over digital agriculture, vacuuming up data around the world and generating massive amounts of GHG emissions, it is urgent to put the brakes on their agenda and to start building open, transparent and sustainable systems, where food producers and food workers exert control over how digital agriculture evolves and how their data is or is not used.Banner image: Katni District, Madhya Pradesh, India - 20 August 2019: An elderly Indian man searches for SBI State Bank of India login portal on smart phone amidst agriculture grass fields. - Neeraj Chaturvedi / Alamy Stock[1]"Democratizing Data-Driven Agriculture with Ranveer Chandra from Microsoft Research", Pixel Scientia Labs, January 2024: https://pixelscientia.com/podcast/democratizing-data-driven-agriculture-with-ranveer-chandra-from-microsoft-research/[2]“Indian farmers set to use AWS Cloud for Agriculture”, AgNews, 12 September 2019, https://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---32011.htm and Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Som Prakash, reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question on Startup Ecosystem, Parliament of India, 20 December 2023, https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/1714/AU2813.pdf?source=pqals[3] “Microsoft announces program to accelerate growth of agritech startups in India”, Microsoft, 3 June 2020, https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-agritech-startups-program-india-launch/[4] “Digital Agriculture: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yield”, Microsoft, 7 November 2017, https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/features/ai-agriculture-icrisat-upl-india/[5] “Union Ministry of Agriculture signs MoU with Microsoft for a pilot project in 100 villages of 6 states”, Press Information Bureau, 14 April 2021, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1711877[6]"Microsoft lays AI sensors for smart farming, cutting-edge healthcare in India," IANS, January 2019: https://www.onmanorama.com/news/business/2019/01/20/microsoft-lays-ai-sensors-smart-farming-cutting-edge-healthcare-india.html[7]“FAQ for AgPS Product Pages_V3”, Bayer: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWZyoh#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Microsoft%20and%20Bayer,a%20shared%20commitment%20to%20sustainability; “Bayer collaborates with Microsoft”, Bayer, 14 March 2023, https://www.bayer.com/media/en-us/bayer-collaborates-with-microsoft-to-unveil-new-cloud-based-enterprise-solutions-advancing-innovation-and-transparency-in-the-agri-food-industry/[8]"Bayer Crop Science, Cargill collaborates to provide digital solutions to Indian smallholder farmer," AgroSpectru, June 2023: https://agrospectrumindia.com/2023/06/14/bayer-crop-science-cargill-collaborates-to-provide-digital-solutions-to-indian-smallholder-farmers.html[9] “DMCC and Cropdata Sign Memorandum to Develop and Promote Commodities Products in the Agriculture Sector”, DMCC, 16 December 2022: https://dmcc.ae/latest-news/dmcc-and-cropdata-sign-memorandum-to-develop-and-promote-commodities-products-in-the-agriculture-sector[10] “Digital Agriculture: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yield”, Microsoft, 7 November 2017, https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/features/ai-agriculture-icrisat-upl-india/[11] “Digital Agriculture: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yield”, Microsoft, 7 November 2017, https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/features/ai-agriculture-icrisat-upl-india/[12] “Karnataka govt inks MoU with Microsoft to use Artificial Intelligence for digital agriculture”, Indian Express, New Delhi, 27 October 2017, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/karnataka-govt-inks-mou-with-microsoft-to-use-artificial-intelligence-for-digital-agriculture-4909470/[13] Anirban Ghosal, “Escorts rolls out autonomous tractor in tie-up with Microsoft, Bosch & others”, Techcircle, 7 September 2018, https://www.techcircle.in/2018/09/07/escorts-rolls-out-autonomous-tractor-in-partnership-with-microsoft-bosch-others[14] “Agristack Project”, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Press Information Bureau, Delhi, 13 December 2022, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1883173[15] “Microsoft Cloud, CropData helping Indian farmers earn better”, IANS, 21 October 2020: https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/cloud-computing/with-microsoft-cloud-cropdata-helping-indian-farmers-earn-better/7878335[16] “Jugalbandi chatbot will be a boon for farmers”, BizzBuzz, 26 May 2023: https://www.bizzbuzz.news/eco-buzz/jugalbandi-chatbot-will-be-a-boon-for-farmers-1221346[17] Tsingyan Research, 五个聚焦分析我国智慧农业的现状与未来 (Five focuses on analysing the existing and future of smart agriculture in China), 8 Mar 2023: http://www.tsingyangroup.com/?p=8591[18] Interview with agronomist at the Wuding MAP Service Centre, Hebei Province, July 2024[19] 大数据看中化智慧农业这一年 (“Big data-a review on Sinochem smart agriculture in this year) , 29 Dec 2018: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VrlAr86zMfx4J9P6fWJ9zA[20] See https://syngentagroup.cn/sustainability-governance-china.html and https://www.sinochem.com/en/ps/17930-182-p137smkx.html[21] “Syngenta Group IPO Prospectus Shanghai” March 2023: https://static.sse.com.cn/stock/disclosure/announcement/c/202303/000992_20230322_O0TK.pdf[22] “Syngenta Group MAP Green and High-Quality Development Report 2023”, Syngenta: https://syngentagroup.cn/stories/246.html[23] Bloomberg, “Alibaba, Pinduoduo Join Fight Against Looming China Food Crisis”, 21 February 2021: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-21/alibaba-pinduoduo-join-fight-against-looming-china-food-crisis[24] 小田并大田,中化农业MAP为农民打工 (Sinochem agriculture MAP helps farmers by consolidating small farms into larger ones), 8 Aug 2023: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VV5qYv13gOD7-UibV0OTvQ[25] Agronews, “Sinochem Agriculture, Alibaba to establish 10-15 nationwide digital agricultural bases”, 10 July 2020: https://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---35875.htm[26] “How Amazon is using technology to improve farmer livelihoods and boost crop yield”, Amazon, 13 April 2023, https://www.aboutamazon.in/news/community/how-amazon-is-using-technology-to-improve-farmer-livelihoods-and-boost-crop-yield[27] “Amazon launches Kisan Store for farmers on Amazon.in”, Amazon, 2 September 2021, https://www.aboutamazon.in/news/amazon-india-news/amazon-launches-kisan-store-for-farmers-on-amazon-in[28] Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmer Welfare, Government of India and Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, 1 June 2021, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BAmZc3wIfyUvrhHlCODc5KqnPHyfJHxq/view?ref=static.internetfreedom.in[29]Cissy Zhou, Nikkei Asia, “JD.com enlists digital Richard Liu avatar in live commerce battle”, 17 April 2024: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/JD.com-enlists-digital-Richard-Liu-avatar-in-live-commerce-battle[30] Foodnavigator Asia, “An entirely new agriculture model: JD and Mitsubishi open largest hydroponic plant factory in China”, 7 Jan 2019: https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2019/01/07/An-entirely-new-agriculture-model-JD-and-Mitsubishi-open-largest-hydroponic-plant-factory-in-China#[31] Sinanews, 京东数字农业成都研究院在蓉签约成立 (JD.com Digital Agriculture Chengdu Research Institute signed to establish in Chengdu), 10 May 2020: https://news.sina.cn/gn/2020-05-10/detail-iirczymk0809629.d.html[32] Vivian Yang, “JD.com Empowers Farmer-Entrepreneur to Achieve RMB 100 Million Yuan in Annual Sales of Tan Mutton”, 24 Mar 2023: https://jdcorporateblog.com/jd-com-empowers-farmer-entrepreneur-to-achieve-rmb-100-million-yuan-in-annual-sales-of-tan-mutton/[33] See https://www.ejqs.com/intro/1.html and The Paper, 京东的AI养猪场、腾讯的亿元投资,巨头们下场搞农业有多少种姿势 (“JD.com's AI pig farm, Tencent's billion-yuan investment: multiple ways tech giants entering agriculture), 4 May 2023: https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22948704[34] See https://en.meicun.xin/; https://www.waiqicha.com/ds/d_1180716054788902474.html; https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%81%9A%E5%9C%9F%E7%BD%91/19390508; The Paper,京东数科股权大起底:刘强东仍为实际控制人,国资股东云集 (“JD Digits' equity: Liu’s actual controller and numerous state-owned shareholders), 19 Dec 2023: https://m.thepaper.cn/kuaibao_detail.jsp?contid=2751324&from=kuaibao[35] Conversation with GRAIN[36] Shagun, “ICAR’s ‘MoU signing spree’ with MNCs spurs concerns over corporatisation of Indian agriculture, Down to Earth, 19 July 2024, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/agriculture/icars-mou-signing-spree-with-mncs-spurs-concerns-over-corporatisation-of-indian-agriculture#:~:text=The%20ICAR%20has%20been%20on,can%20be%20provided%20to%20farmers.[37] Sashwata Saha, “Agri Ministry’s New App Gives Microsoft Access to Millions of Farmers’ Personal Data: The whole process is faceless”, The Citizen, 19 May 2021 : https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/9/20367/Agri-Ministrys-New-App-Gives-Microsoft-Access-to-Millions-of-Farmers-Personal-Data-[38]For example, ChatGPT consumes up to 500 millilitres of water for every conversation of 5-50 prompts or questions. See Urvashi Aneja and Dona Mathew, "A dash of optimism and a dollop of caution: Building AI for climate action", Digital Futures Lab, December 2023: https://digitalfutureslab.notion.site/A-dash-of-optimism-and-a-dollop-of-caution-Building-AI-for-climate-action-560358e374f548888881c5d5b21e79ff; Shannon Osaka, "A new front in the water wars: Your internet use", Washington Post, April 2023: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/25/data-centers-drought-water-use/[39]Isabel O'Brien, "Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse?", Guardian, September 2024: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/15/data-center-gas-emissions-tech