On 27 December, the fourth PDD Smart Agriculture Competition concluded in Shanghai. After over 160 days of dedicated effort, six finalist teams achieved remarkable breakthroughs in yield per unit area, total output, planting efficiency, and energy consumption.

After comprehensive evaluation ultimately, the CyberFarmer team from China Agricultural University clinched the championship. Their precise data analysis and intelligent regulation increased the production efficiency of container-grown lettuce to 0.33 kilograms per square meter per day, while reducing energy consumption to 12.25 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of lettuce, reaching an industry-leading level.

The Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences team achieved a breakthrough yield of over 300 kilograms of lettuce within a space of approximately 42 cubic meters, showcasing excellent appearance and flavour. They were awarded the second prize and the "Best Flavour Award" in this competition.

Two teams, the Leafyman team from Yecai Xia (Shandong) Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. and the Green Pioneers team, jointly established by the National Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Agricultural Equipment and the Beijing Agricultural Technology Promotion Station, tied for third place. Additionally, the Leafyman team, which produced a single lettuce weighing 460 grams, received the "Heaviest Single Plant Award." The Shimo Siyuan team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which consumed the least electricity among the six teams, won the "Best Energy-Saving Innovation Award".

The PDD Smart Agriculture Competition has been held four times to date. This year's competition required teams to transform a 20-foot container into new types of farmland within a specified budget and design intelligent planting plans for lettuce production. The event attracted 142 outstanding young experts and scholars from 16 teams, ultimately advancing six teams to the finals.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representation in China is the technical support unit for this competition. "It is encouraging to see a generation of innovative young scientists propose various cost-effective AI planting solutions during this event. They will become the backbone of agricultural science and technology in China and globally, injecting new vitality into the modernization of agriculture," said Han Yan, Assistant FAO Representative in China.

"Agriculture is the foundation of a nation; a solid foundation ensures national stability. Technological innovation is the key engine driving high-quality agricultural development," stated Zhu Zheng, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Pinduoduo during the award ceremony. He emphasized that Pinduoduo collaborates with various forces to build an open, inclusive, and cooperative platform aimed at inspiring enthusiasm across society for agricultural technology innovation and jointly exploring new paths for smart agriculture.

"The participating teams demonstrated exceptional technical strength and innovation capabilities," noted Zhao Chunjiang, head of the evaluation panel, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture. He emphasized that the competition not only reflected the contestants' profound understanding of the integration of industry, academia, and research but also provided valuable experiences for the future industrialization of plant factories.

At the award ceremony, Sun Qixin, President of the China Agricultural University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, remarked that the current era has entered another wave of innovation, highlighting the cross-disciplinary integration of artificial intelligence and life sciences. "In this context, the collaboration between Pinduoduo and Guangming Huabo Village to host such a competition focusing on supporting young talent in innovation and entrepreneurship has a significant impact on promoting technological progress across society and advancing agricultural and rural modernization through technological innovation and new business models."

Industrial and Academic Teams Join Forces to Overcome Challenges

Over the past five and a half months, the six finalist teams engaged in the challenging task of AI-based lettuce cultivation within their redesigned container plant factories. Compared to traditional planting, plant factories offer high yield and efficiency while being ecologically intelligent, but they also face challenges such as high construction and operational costs. Reducing costs and increasing efficiency became the biggest challenges for all teams.

The CyberFarmer team, last year's winner of the "Best Energy-Saving Award," boldly adopted multi-source energy-saving control technologies such as cold source access and condensate water recovery in this year's competition, while opting for a traditional shelving design for their planting racks.

This team integrated the container and natural environment, using external cold sources for cooling when the external temperature was at least 10 degrees Celsius lower than inside during the light phase of lettuce growth or 7 degrees lower during the dark phase. During the finals, the CyberFarmer team took advantage of a cold wave hitting Shanghai, activating their cold source access system, which reduced energy consumption by 56% compared to the previous day's air conditioning usage.

In comparison to last year's competition, the CyberFarmer team doubled their planting area and nearly sextupled their output, while reducing the proportion of air conditioning energy consumption by nearly 70 percentage points, achieving significant results.

"If this model is applied in large plant factories, the electricity cost per kilogram of lettuce could be reduced to industry-leading levels under 10 kilowatt-hours," stated team leader Yang Hao. He expressed that their "bold yet conservative" approach not only yielded excellent planting results but also allowed them to appreciate the innovations and strengths of other teams.

For example, the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences team approached their design from the perspective of large-scale production to dilute marginal costs, creating a high-yield, low-consumption plant factory plan. Their core innovation involved a mobile hanging cultivation rack that could expand or contract based on crop growth needs, increasing the space utilization of the container to 2.34. They also conducted extensive light experiments during the initial and trial stages to develop a low-energy light formula suitable for lettuce growth.

After 50 days of meticulous online care, the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences team ultimately achieved a harvest of 1,680 plants, totaling 299.55 kilograms, with over 90% of the A-grade products meeting standards. Including the sampling and public evaluation stage, their total yield for one harvest reached 302 kilograms, placing them first. When accounting for planting area production efficiency, the team achieved an excellent performance of 0.28 kilograms per square meter per day.

The competition for the championship was extremely close, as young scientists showcased their ingenuity and fully tapped into their innovative wisdom, elevating the competition to new heights. The Leafyman team from Shandong, representing the industry sector, also demonstrated their strength by employing a linear control system for the plant growth environment along with an elaborate ventilation design. This allowed crops to experience the natural sunrise, sunset, and gentle breeze even in an artificial environment, yielding an impressive average weight of over 300 grams per lettuce plant and the highest weight of 460 grams for a single lettuce.

"This is our first time growing 'Elegant' lettuce to such a size in a plant factory. The reason, fundamentally, is that we treat the crops as if they were people, finding ways to make them more comfortable. The final size was beyond our expectations," said team leader Xie Xiaowei during a post-competition interview, expressing a desire to collaborate with academic teams for further analysis and research on the "Hulk Lettuce."

The only team to forego an "operational chamber," the Green Pioneers achieved a remarkable space utilization rate of 2.8, meaning their designed three-dimensional new farmland had 2.8 times the planting area compared to traditional field planting methods with the same footprint. This laid the foundation for their second-place finish with a nearly 290-kilogram yield. "After the competition, we will continue to enhance our structural design, environmental control, quality nutrition, and cultivation processes, striving to elevate China's plant factory technology to world-leading levels," said team member Sun Weituo.

Bringing More People the Harvest of This "Container" Achievement

"Vertical agriculture has been in China for about 20 years. Technology continues to evolve, and efficiency keeps improving, yet there are still many challenges for industrial application. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that this is a very promising and correct direction," said Qin Chuhan, team leader of the award-winning MARY team. He expressed that through competition, they could gain more opportunities, stating, "It is very meaningful for everyone to work together to elevate the industry's levels."

During the trial planting phase of the finals, all six teams adjusted their equipment and lived together in the venue provided by the organizers. Initially, everyone was a bit reserved, exchanging only nods of greetings. However, as days passed, the barriers between industry and academia, as well as between the north and south, gradually diminished.

The Leafyman team's container was adjacent to that of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences team. The team member Mao Xin often sought help from their "neighbours" when busy. In September, during the heat of Chongming Island, Shanghai, "when we weren’t familiar with each other, we would shyly fan ourselves. Later, as we became more acquainted, we just worked without shirts."

Team members supported one another in their daily lives and learned from each other in technology. The Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences team, the previous competition champion, narrowly missed defending their title this time. Team leader Miao Chen expressed his emotions through the metaphor of high jump competitions, noting, "the essence of sportsmanship lies in high jump competitions. Even champion athletes choose heights that they cannot reach to challenge themselves, and the last jump may inevitably result in failure. Striving for the highest can yield substantial gains. This cannot be deemed a failure, merely a small regret."

He admitted that their initial goal was to achieve an electricity consumption of 10 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of lettuce. "We are currently at 12.2 kilowatt-hours, and the cold source access model attempted by the CyberFarmer team during the competition has inspired us significantly. In the future, we can explore such methods to continue lowering air conditioning energy consumption and tackle technical challenges."

Xiong Yuanke, team leader of the Shimo Siyuan team, also recognized the power of collaboration. "During the competition, we focused most of our energy on energy-saving strategies, which yielded excellent results. The accumulated outcomes and innovations can be combined with those of other teams or enterprises for mutual progress."

Using the competition as a medium and applying research to practice, the event organizers have been committed to encouraging and promoting award-winning teams to further refine their innovations and apply technical solutions to vast agricultural fields. This initiative aims to rejuvenate traditional agriculture with new technologies, creating a development model that is more stable in quality, more standardized in products, and more controllable in production, thereby effectively enhancing the core competitiveness of new quality agricultural supply.

"Through the application of innovative technologies in the competition, we provide technical support for new quality supply, helping meet consumers' demand for high-quality agricultural products while improving agricultural production efficiency and promoting the upgrade and transformation of the agricultural sector," Zhu Zheng stated.

Taking the Leafyman team as an example, in recent years, they have formed multiple sets of production equipment systems with independent intellectual property rights centered around new cultivation technologies such as vertical farms, leveraging advantages in Shandong manufacturing. They have implemented plant factory models in countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Aruba, and Thailand. During the finals, partners from their company were present to observe the competition, looking to seek collaboration on container plant factory solutions.

The proposal from the MARY team also garnered interest from some market players. They are currently collaborating with Shanghai-based food and beverage industry to trial healthy green leeks. The team has also partnered with companies in the Middle East to explore the cultivation of basil and arugula salad varieties, as well as strawberries and non-tropical fruits in Thailand, hoping to promote plant factory technology to more regions.