Alibaba JV plants seeds of change in food habits

"It is not very profitable for me to grow crops on my own piece of land nowadays. It is even less promising to hire people to work for me. It is better to transfer my land use rights," said 80-year-old Hu Sheming, who has transferred his land rights to Zhejiang Xinghe.

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"Costs will be lower for this new group-buying project, including delivery and dealers' costs. The project is built on the rising market need for fresh vegetables and fruit. As the market grows, we are sure this new project will be quite profitable in the near future," said Chu Jia, public relations manager of Juhuasuan.

Cao Lei, director of the China E-Commerce Research Center, said Jutudi is another "brave move" by Alibaba, which focuses more on the customer-to-business side. Although the project still has some risks, such as legal issues concerning the transfer of land use rights and cold-chain logistics, Cao said it's still a new channel for e-commerce.

"Apart from the retailing services we have seen on Alibaba for the past few years, we can see that the use of land and even equities may be able to trade on this platform. It is very likely that Alibaba will become a financing platform for companies in the future," said Cao.

Similar services are available at JD, another leading domestic shopping site run by JD.com Inc. On that site, consumers can rent land for their own crops raised through Beijing-based Rising Yard Agriculture Technology Co Ltd or Beijing Ninetowns Tianshi Ecological Agriculture Co Ltd.

A plot covering 30 sq m provided by Rising Yard costs 680 yuan annually for consumers who sign up between April 25 and June 30. Five designated vegetables will be grown on the land and delivered.

At Ninetowns, consumers can rent a site of 33.3 sq m for 1,998 yuan a year. There are 16 free deliveries a year, with 5 kilograms of crops delivered every time.