Pinduoduo explores implementing agriculture solutions from FAO competition to working farms
December 07 2020 - 8:00AM
Pinduoduo, China’s largest agriculture-focused technology platform,
will explore deploying smart agriculture solutions developed by the
winners of a competition organized by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) to working farms, giving young agripreneurs an
avenue to test their business ideas at scale.
The Global Agrilnno Challenge 2020, co-organized by the FAO and
Zhejiang University with support from Pinduoduo, attracted more
than 150 teams from across the world. The competition invited
participants to put forward innovative solutions in response to
challenges associated with the distribution and sales of agri-food
products during the pandemic period. The results were announced on
Dec. 6.
AquaFarms Africa took first place in the finals of the challenge
with an aquaponic system made from 90% local materials and ran on
renewable energy. Two teams from China, Tianfu Honey and Mi Terro,
placed a joint second with their respective solutions to digitize
the beekeeping industry and produce an alternative to plastic
packaging by re-engineering food waste. Teams from Spain, Bolivia,
and Uganda shared third place.
“Pinduoduo is committed to helping farmers to ‘sell well,’ and
consumers to ‘buy well,’” said Han Dongyuan, Vice President at
Pinduoduo. “We will continually explore how to bring cutting-edge
solutions to the field in China and provide small farmholders with
the most suitable smart agriculture tools.”
The agricultural sector is facing the enormous challenge of
feeding a projected 9.6 billion people who will inhabit the planet
by 2050, which will require a 60% increase in food. The COVID-19
pandemic put the global food system through severe stress,
disrupting regular logistics and sales channels at a time of
surging demand for agricultural products.
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol, who served as the
chairman of the judging committee for the Global Agrilnno
Challenge, said the contest was timely given the importance of
finding ways to improve the efficiency of agricultural production
and distribution, and attracting more young people to take part in
agriculture. Echoing her view, Zhejiang University Professor Wei
Baolong said that digital agriculture required continuous
investment, just like any other scientific field.
In China, the agricultural industry is characterized by small
farms, low digitization and e-commerce penetration rate, making it
more difficult to achieve standardization and economies of scale.
The industry also faces the problem of an aging and dwindling
farming workforce.
Pinduoduo has adopted a systems-based approach to addressing the
inter-related issues of how to grow, move and sell food. The
company has trained more than 100,000 e-commerce-savvy New Farmers
to help bring more farming communities aboard the digital economy.
It is working with Singapore’s A*Star research agency to develop
portable test kits for contaminants to safeguard food safety.
Pinduoduo recently announced it will invest in developing a smart
logistics system suited to agriculture that can provide next-day
delivery at a low cost.
The Global Agrilnno Challenge is the second agritech project
that Pinduoduo has worked on together with the FAO. The FAO was the
technical adviser to the Smart Agriculture Competition organized by
Pinduoduo and China Agricultural University that pit technology
teams against traditional growers to see who can produce the
highest cost-adjusted yields. The aim of the competition was to
gather the top minds in artificial intelligence and agronomy to see
if they can develop commercially viable "one-click planting"
solutions to help farmers raise their productivity.
About Pinduoduo Inc.
Pinduoduo is an innovative and fast-growing technology
platform that provides buyers with value-for-money merchandise and
fun and interactive shopping experiences.
The Pinduoduo mobile platform offers a comprehensive
selection of attractively priced merchandise, featuring a dynamic
social shopping experience that leverages social networks
effectively.
For more information on Pinduoduo news and industry
trends, please visit our content hub
at http://stories.pinduoduo-global.com/.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Pinduoduo
Inc.investor@pinduoduo.cominternationalmedia@pinduoduo.com
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