Pinduoduo, China Agricultural University and Zhejiang University have announced the launch of the 2021 Smart Agriculture Competition, an agricultural technology competition with the aim of fostering innovation and promoting agricultural modernisation
Contestants will take a multidisciplinary approach, applying nutrition science, precision farming and other relevant technology to cultivate tomatoes. The winners will be judged on yield, nutritional value, environmental sustainability and commercial viability.
The competition is open to young agronomists and computer scientists from around the world and offers a total prize pool of more than US$154,000.
Registration for the competition will end on 9 September 2021. A total of 15 teams will be shortlisted by the judging panel to present their plans. The four teams with the highest scores will proceed to the final round of the competition.
Now in its second year, the Smart Agriculture Competition is led by Pinduoduo, China Agricultural University and Zhejiang University, with technical guidance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Wageningen University & Research. The Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and representative agencies from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark have also provided strong support. Leading agritech companies including Bayer Crop Science, Ridder Group and Omron have lent their industry expertise and advanced solutions to the competition.
“The driving force for the improvement of the agricultural industry comes from the development and application of cutting-edge technologies,” said Andre Zhu, senior vice-president at Pinduoduo.
“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% of the food in China,” said Tian Jianhui, vice-president of China Agricultural University.
“China’s farming sector will undergo tremendous change, making the leap from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture,” said He Yong, dean of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science College of Zhejiang University.
“Technology is transforming agriculture and food production. It is extremely important to implement the digital transformation of agriculture and improve food safety,” added Carlos Watson, FAO representative to China.
To register, visit https://smartagricompetition.com/register
