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Technology beats humans at growing strawberries in Pinduoduo smart agriculture competition
Pinduoduo Inc.December 16, 2020 GMT
Pinduoduo’s Smart Agriculture Competition took place over four months and pitted data scientists against top strawberry growers
Technology teams produced 196% more strawberries by weight on average compared with traditional farmers
Technology teams also outperformed farmers in return on investment by an average of 75.5%
SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Technology beat farmers at growing strawberries in the inaugural Smart Agriculture Competition organized by Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD), China’s largest agri-focused technology platform, underscoring its potential to raise agricultural productivity and increase food security.
Technology beats humans at growing strawberries in greenhouses
Technology beat farmers at growing strawberries in the inaugural Smart Agriculture Competition organized by Pinduoduo, China’s largest agri-focused technology platform, underscoring its potential to raise agricultural productivity and increase food security.
The four technology teams, which employed data analysis, intelligent sensors and greenhouse automation, produced an average of 6.86 kilograms of strawberries, or 196% more than the 2.32 kilograms average for the three teams of traditional growers.
The technologists also outperformed farmers in terms of return on investment by an average of 75.5%, according to the competition organizers.
Close-up shot of strawberries grown in automated greenhouses at the Smart Agriculture Competition (Source: Pinduoduo)
Pinduoduoâs strawberry-growing competition produces tech start-up to serve farms
Zhi Duo Mei, a team of technology experts that took part in Pinduoduo s Smart Agriculture Competition, became the first group out of the contest to commercialize their technology as local farmers sought the team s help to improve their agricultural yield.
Led by Cheng Biao, the team had planned to use the prize money if they won the competition to start a business. But a few months into the contest, Cheng began receiving inquiries from farmers keen to deploy the team s automation technology that showed a more than 60% increase in conventional output.