When Farming Meets Big Data! BGI Bioverse Debuts “The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative” at Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Expo

On October 25, the 33rd China Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Achievements Expo opened in Yangling, Shaanxi. BGI Bioverse, BGI Group’s smart-and-beneficial agriculture implementation system, presented its core achievements, with a focus on The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative—a series of big-data-driven intelligent products and services for soil microbiome detection, assessment, and improvement. Perennial rice, perennial corn forage, and other innovations were also showcased, presenting an integrated agricultural technology solution “from soil to seed.” Lu Jun, Director and Chief Operating Officer of BGI Group, and Liu Huan, General Manager of BGI Bioverse, were invited to attend the opening ceremony.

[Photo caption: Lin Guangmei, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and his delegation visit the BGI Bioverse booth.]

The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative: Making Soil Health Management Evidence-Based

Soil health is the foundation of food security and human health. BGI has worked in the soil microbiome field for more than 15 years and has accumulated over 100,000 soil microbiome samples, more than 30,000 functional microbial strains, and over 350 TB of microbial genomic data, building a globally leading soil microbiome reference dataset.

The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative system showcased at this expo is an intelligent soil microbiome detection, assessment, and improvement system built on this data foundation. Leveraging core technology platforms such as high-throughput sequencing and high-resolution mass spectrometry, it conducts a comprehensive “deep check-up” of soil across six dimensions: soil nutrients and physicochemical properties, organic components, microbiome diversity, plant probiotics, plant pathogens, and more than 1,000 species of nematodes and viruses. It then uses comprehensive soil fertility assessment models such as the Soil Health Index (SHI) and SQI to produce a quantitative “check-up report.” On this basis, it provides personalized solutions including intelligent nutrient configuration, soil-testing formula fertilization, intelligent microbial configuration, and customized microbial inoculant development—prescribing a tailored “prescription” for every inch of land.

The booth also displayed the Huaqingwo® microbial inoculant, with an effective viable bacteria count of ≥1 billion CFU/g.

Leveraging the diagnostic capabilities of The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative and its patented strain library, BGI Bioverse has launched multiple customized microbial inoculant products—Huayikang® microbial inoculant, Huaqingwo® microbial inoculant, Huayifeng® soybean rhizobia inoculant, and Huayunfeng® sugar-enhancing and color-promoting 1+1—forming a microbial product matrix covering multiple scenarios and crops and providing more precise microbial solutions for different planting needs.

Measured data show that in a 10,000-mu peanut demonstration field in Daming County, Hebei, the green prevention and control technology model integrated with The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative increased actual harvested yield by 13.1% compared with the control field. In a 128,000-mu soybean demonstration at Youyi Farm in Heilongjiang, fields treated with BGI microbial inoculants yielded 51.6 jin more per mu than conventional control fields, an increase of 12.4%. To date, BGI microbial inoculants have been applied on over 2 million mu cumulatively across 89 counties and cities in 21 provinces nationwide.

Unlocking a New “Plant Once, Harvest Many Times” Staple Crop Paradigm

At the expo, perennial crops also attracted many visitors. Perennial rice, the world’s first commercially viable perennial grain crop, can be planted once and harvested for multiple years, significantly reducing labor and resource inputs and promoting the transition of rice production toward a resource-saving and environmentally friendly green model. It has been promoted and planted in more than 130 regions across 10 countries and was included in the List of Deliverables of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, becoming a model of Belt and Road agricultural science and technology cooperation.

Building a Long-Term “Forage Granary”

Maize Forage jointly promoted by BGI and Sichuan Agricultural University was showcased at the booth. Perennial Maize Forage can be “planted once and harvested for many years,” with fresh forage yield of 8–10 tons per mu and crude protein content steadily exceeding 10% at the tasseling stage. It has a well-developed root system and tolerates poor soils, making it suitable for sloping land and abandoned land in southwestern China and southern agricultural regions, thereby seeking “increments” from marginal land. Annual Maize Forage is suitable for planting nationwide. With high yield and high quality, it can be used in sole cropping, intercropping, and rotation, helping fill the gap in basic forage and reduce feed grain consumption. In 2026, a 500-mu demonstration base was established in Yuanling, Hunan, connecting the green circular chain of “planting forage on abandoned land—lower-cost livestock farming—returning manure to fields,” and providing a new solution for a grain-saving livestock model that “replaces grain with forage.”

With The Intelligent Eco-Soil Initiative at its core, BGI Bioverse is driving farmland protection from single-point treatment toward data-driven precision management. From soil microbiome improvement to germplasm innovation, a systematic agricultural solution connecting soil, improved seed, and field application is being implemented, continuously activating new quality productive forces in agriculture.

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