The competition aims to promote the development of cost-effective technology that can help farmers to increase productivity and improve livelihoods in an environmentally sustainable manner
China Agricultural University will join Pinduoduo as a co-organiser of the Smart Agriculture Competition, a unique contest that aims to foster interdisciplinary innovation by marrying algorithms and agronomy.
The Smart Agriculture Competition, which is being held for a second year, aims to promote the development of cost-effective technology that can help farmers to increase their productivity and improve their livelihoods in an environmentally sustainable manner. This year, the contest will draw teams from around the world to cultivate tomatoes using a combination of agronomic knowledge, algorithmic modelling, and precision automation.
“The Smart Agriculture Competition plays a unique role in that it aims to foster innovation that is usable by smallholder farmers, who produce around 80 per cent of the food in China,” said Wang Hongqing, Professor of the School of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, who will be a member of the competition’s judging panel. “It is an important platform for the different stakeholders in the agri-food ecosystem to come together to develop practical, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable solutions for working farms.”
As China’s largest agriculture platform, Pinduoduo spearheaded the creation of the Smart Agriculture Competition as a way to gather the top minds in agronomy and computer science to develop technology that can improve agriculture and build a more resilient food system. The competition is advised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and Wageningen University & Research. Leading institutes including the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the National Plateau Yunguo Industrial Park are also lending their support.
Last year, in the inaugural Smart Agriculture Competition, teams of data scientists were pitted against traditional farmers to grow strawberries. The technology teams produced 196 per cent more strawberries by weight on average compared with traditional farmers and outperformed in terms of the profitability of the investment.
In this year’s competition, judges will be evaluating the teams not only on yield and cost-effectiveness but also on the nutritional profile of the tomatoes and the environmental sustainability of their approach. This is in recognition of the important role that agriculture plays in the health of the population and its impact on the environment.
“Through the Smart Agriculture Competition, we hope to interest more young scientific talent in agriculture so that they can apply their talents to helping farmers,” said Andre Zhu, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Pinduoduo. “Helping farmers to grow better ensures not just the people to eat better but also has a direct positive impact on the environment.”
